jim  c row's 

:an g  uag e 

LES   S  O  NS 

JMD  OTHER.  STORCES   OF 

►IRDS     &  ANIMALS 

JULIA  DARROW  C  OWlMB 


)w;  )bw-r* 


\y  \    \  'JZS^xJXr^ 


^y i\K>^Xysr^^x>^^  \  \  ft  3 


A    BIG    BLACK    CROW    PICKED    UP    THE    HANDKERCHIEF    AND    FLEW    OFF 
WITH    IT. 


JIM  CROW'S 
LANGUAGE  LESSONS 

AND  OTHER  STORIES 
OF  BIRDS  AND  ANIMALS 

-^      -=5=»     -=;=s»       -«=S»       By       «5»        «-^       <sp-      -*5=»> 

JULIA  DARROW  C0WLE5 


NEW  YORK 

THOnAS  Y.  CROWELL  &  C° 

PUBLISHERS. 


(/ 


J&kU- 


Copyright,  1003, 
By   Julia    Darrow   Cowles. 


Published  September,  IQ03. 


95*6 


LOVINGLY   DEDICATED 

TO 
MY    FOUR    CHILDREN 

?fa$el,  iFlorence,  HagmontJ,  anto  ^tifeoarti 

WHOSE    LOVE    FOR    PETS    AND    ANIMALS 

LAID    THE    FOUNDATION     FOR 

THESE    STORIES 


48677 


The  author  wishes  to  acknowledge  the 
courtesy  of  the  editors  of  "  The  Youth's 
Companion/'  "The  New  York  Observer," 
"Happy  Hours/'  "Little  Folks,"  "  Our 
Little  Ones/'  and  "The  Weekly  Magnet/' 
in  whose  papers  some  of  the  following 
stories  have  appeared,  and  whose  cordial 
good  will  has  encouraged  her  to  offer  them, 
with  others  which  have  not  been  published, 
in  this  more  permanent  form. 


CONTENTS. 


Jim  Crow's  Language  Lesson       ....  9 

A  Saucy  Thief 16 

Mrs.  Wiggins'  Sweet  Peas 23 

Tipple's  Visit 31 

Ponce's  Vacation 36 

Brave  Trix 43 

Peter's  Boarding-House 48 

How  Muff  won  her  Way 54 

How  the  Kittens  were  Named  ....  61 

Old  Woolly  Stockings 64 

The  Bescue  of  Mother  Hen's  Family     .  69 

A  Bestaurant  for  Birds 75 

A  Saucy  Band  of  Bobbers 82 

A  Bace 88 

A  Winter  Walk 92 

The  Dog  that  Telegraphed 99 

What  Grandma  Sent      .......  103 

An  Unexpected  Parade 107 

The  Booster's  Joke 112 

The  Bird  that  Sang  in  the  Night     .     .  115 


JIM    CROW'S    LANGUAGE 
LESSON. 


TT^ARLY  one  summer  Ray  and  Elsa  Wil- 
-*— *  cox  went  with  their  papa  to  visit 
some  cousins  who  lived  in  the  country. 
The  cousins  were  named  Ernest  and  Flor- 
ence, and  the  four  children  had  all  sorts  of 
fun. 

They  especially  enjoyed  going  off  into 
the  woods  which  skirted  the  farm,  where 
they  found  the  loveliest  places  to  play,  and 
where  they  could  study  the  curious  habits 
of  the  birds  and  squirrels.  One  morning 
while  they  were  playing  tree  tag,  Ray,  who 
had  gone  quite  a  distance  from  the  rest, 
heard  curious  and  persistent  cries  from  the 
tree  over  his  head. 

9 


10         JIM  CROW'S  LANGUAGE  LESSON. 

He  called  the  other  children,  and  they 
all  listened. 

"It  must  be  a  lot  of  }roung  birds,  but 
what  a  noise  they  make  !  "  said  Ray. 

Ernest  stood  still  a  moment  and  then 
exclaimed,  "  They  're  crows  !  I  see  the 
nest !  " 

Then,  after  watching  for  some  time,  the 
children  went  back  to  the  house,  but  all  the 
way  there  they  were  followed  by  the  cries 
of  the  birds. 

In  the  afternoon  they  again  went  to  the 
woods,  and  took  Mr.  Wilcox  with  them. 
The  birds  were  still  crying  in  a  distressed 
way,  and  Mr.  Wilcox  concluded  that  the 
parent  birds  had  been  killed,  and  that  the 
young  crows  were  hungry. 

Then,  to  the  delight  of  the  children,  he 
climbed  the  tree,  loosened  the  nest  from 
its  fastenings  and  brought  it  down  with  the 
birds  in  it. 

It  turned  out  as  the  children  had  guessed. 


JIM  CROW'S  LANGUAGE  LESSON.         11 

They  were  crows  —  and  there  were  four  of 
them. 

The  nest  was  taken  carefully  to  the 
house,  and  for  the  next  few  weeks  the 
birds  were  fed  and  cared  for  by  the  children 
till  they  grew  to  be  quite  large,  and  were 
very  tame. 

When  Ray  and  Elsa  went  home  they 
took  two  of  the  crows  with  them,  and  as 
the  birds  were  now  well  grown  and  able 
to  care  for  themselves,  they  were  given  a 
home  in  the  hen-house  with  the  fowls.  At 
first  there  was  a  great  commotion  over  the 
strangers,  but  in  time  the  occupants  of 
the  hen-house  grew  quite  friendly,  and  the 
birds  took  their  breakfast  with  the  chickens 
quite  as  though  that  was  the  usual  manner 
of  crows. 

The  children  thought  a  great  deal  of 
their  odd  pets,  and  when  in  the  autumn 
one  of  them  flew  away  with  a  passing  flock 
of  crows,  they  felt  very  badly  about  it. 


12         JIM   CROW'S  LANGUAGE  LESSON. 

The  remaining  crow  was  known  as  Jim ; 
and  as  he  was  the  more  mischievous  of  the 
two,  and  the  one  which  seemed  to  have  the 
greater  intelligence,  the  children  doubled 
their  attentions  to  him,  and  became  recon- 
ciled to  the  loss  of  his  mate. 

All  winter  Jim  lived  with  the  fowls,  and, 
as  later  events  proved,  he  did  not  pass  the 
time  in  idleness,  but  sought  during  these 
months  to  broaden  his  education  and  acquire 
a  foreign  language. 

One  day  early  in  the  spring  Ray  thought 
it  warm  enough  to  let  the  hens  out  in  the 
yard  to  be  fed.  As  he  was  scattering  the 
grain  about  he  heard  a  distant  cackling  on 
the  housetop,  far  above  his  head. 

"How  on  earth  could  a  hen  get  up  there !  " 
he  exclaimed  in  astonishment,  as  he  looked 
around. 

But  it  was  n't  a  hen,  it  was  Jim  Crow, 
cackling  away  in  great  glee.  How  Ray 
laughed!     Then  he  ran  into  the  house  to 


JIM  CROW'S  LANGUAGE  LESSON.         13 

call  Elsa,  but  when  she  came  out  Jim  was 
cawing  in  his  usual  crow  language. 

A  few  days  later,  however,  when  the 
hens  had  again  been  given  the  liberty  of 
the  yard,  Elsa  saw  Jim  following  them 
about,  and  this  time,  much  to  her  delight, 
imitating  exactly  their  contented  clucking. 

Elsa  stood  and  watched  him,  for  his 
way  of  imitating  their  manner  of  walk 
and  search  for  food  was  as  funny  as  the 
noise  he  was  making.  Just  then  Elsa 
noticed  that  some  people  passing  on  the 
sidewalk  had  been  attracted  by  the  crow's 
accomplishment,  and  they,  too,  had  stopped 
to  watch  him.  But  it  was  not  many  minutes 
before  Jim  realized  this,  and  with  a  sudden 
"caw"  he  flew  straight  before  their  faces, 
almost  brushing  against  them  with  his 
wings.  The  unexpected  movement  startled 
them  so  that  they  jumped,  and  one  of  the 
ladies  of  the  group  cried  out  in  alarm. 

This  seemed  to  amuse  Jim  greatly,  for  he 


14         JIM  CROW'S  LANGUAGE  LESSON. 

perched  upon  a  tree  across  the  way  and 
screamed,  "  Caw !  caw!  caw!"  exactly  as 
though  he  were  laughing  at  his  own  per- 
formance. 

After  Jim  had  learned  to  imitate  the 
hens  so  well,  he  turned  his  mind  to  a 
higher  branch  of  education,  much  as  a 
scholar  who  has  mastered  Latin  next  turns 
his  attention  to  Greek. 

It  was  later  in  the  summer  when  the 
children  noticed  that  he  was  beginning  to 
strut  around  the  yard  after  the  big  rooster. 
He  held  up  his  head  and  lifted  his  legs 
with  a  genuine  rooster  strut  which  was  in- 
describably comical.  The  children  laughed, 
of  course,  and  although  Jim  never  could  be 
coaxed  to  "  show  off  "  it  was  certain  that 
he  enjoyed  having  his  antics  appreciated. 

But  his  self-esteem  was  destined  to  have 
a  fall.  After  he  had  learned  to  walk  like 
the  rooster,  he  evidently  thought  it  time  to 
talk  like  one. 


JIM  CROW'S  LANGUAGE  LESSON.  15 

He  was  strutting  around  one  day,  and  the 
children,  unknown  to  him,  were  watching. 
Presently  he  opened  his  mouth,  stretched 
out  his  neck,  and  beyond  a  doubt  tried  to 
crow.  It  was  a  dismal  failure,  however,  and 
sounded  much  more  like  a  croak  than  a  crow. 

Both  the  children  shouted  with  laughter. 
Poor  Jim  heard  them,  glanced  quickly 
round  with  the  drollest  of  faces,  and  flew 
to  the  shelter  of  the  hen-house,  where  no 
amount  of  coaxing  could  get  him  out  for  a 
long  time.  Nor  was  he  ever  known  to  at- 
tempt to  crow  again,  although  later  on  he 
regained  sufficient  confidence  in  himself  to 
strut  around  after  the  rooster  in  his  old 
fashion. 

Greatly  to  the  regret  of  the  children, 
the  following  autumn  Jim  followed  the 
example  of  his  mate  and  flew  away  with  a 
flock  of  crows ;  and  Ray  and  Elsa  are  sure 
that  the  chickens  miss  him  as  much  as 
they  do. 


A  SAUCY  THIEF. 


EALPH  had  been  sick  a  whole  month, 
and  now  that  he  was  able  to  sit  up 
again,  he  liked  to  have  his  chair  by  the 
window,  where  he  could  look  out  and  watch 
the  men  who  were  at  work  upon  a  new 
house  being  built  next  door. 

He  was  very  glad  that  the  men  were  at 
work  here  just  at  this  time,  for  the  days 
sometimes  seemed  very  long  to  him,  and 
to  see  a  house  growing  before  his  eyes  was 
so  interesting  that  he  could  watch  it  almost 
for  hours  at  a  time.  Nothing  else  helped 
so  well  to  pass  the  long  days  away. 

But  one  day  the  funniest  thing  happened 
at  the  new  house.  A  strange  workman 
appeared  upon  the  scene,  but  this  workman 
hindered  more  than  he  helped. 

16 


A    SAUCY  THIEF.  17 

Ralph  was  at  his  accustomed  place  at 
the  window  and  was  watching  a  carpenter 
measure  pieces  of  lumber  for  a  certain 
part  of  the  building.  Ralph  saw  him  take 
out  his  rule  and  mark  the  length  with 
a  pencil.  He  then  laid  the  pencil  down 
beside  him  while  he  sawed  the  board.  Pretty 
soon  he  looked  around  to  get  his  pencil  and 
it  was  gone.  He  searched  for  it  a  few  min- 
utes, then  he  took  another  pencil  from  his 
pocket.  He  marked  another  board  with 
this  and  laid  it  down  as  before,  but  when 
he  wanted  it  again,  that  one,  too,  was  gone. 

The  man  now  began  to  look  vexed,  and 
he  searched  all  about,  probably  expecting 
to  find  some  mischievous  boy  around,  Ralph 
thought.  But  finding  no  boy  and  no  pen- 
cils, he  borrowed  another  pencil  from  one 
of  the  workmen,  and  this  time  when  he  got 
through  using  it  he  put  it  in  his  pocket. 
So  he  managed  in  this  way  to  keep  the  one 
he  had  borrowed. 


18  A   SAUCY  THIEF. 

Presently  he  finished  measuring  all  the 
boards  he  needed,  and  began  nailing  them 
in  place.  He  took  a  handful  of  nails  from 
the  pocket  of  the  big  apron  that  he  wore 
and  laid  them  down  within  easy  reach. 
He  used  a  few  of  them  and  when  he 
reached  around  for  more,  there  were  no 
more  in  sight.  Then  he  stood  straight  up, 
took  off  his  cap,  and  scratched  his  head. 

Ralph  had  been  watching  all  this  time, 
and  had  seen  where  all  the  missing  articles 
went,  and  now  at  the  man's  perplexity  he 
laughed  aloud.  Mamma,  who  was  in  the 
next  room,  heard  the  merry  laugh  and  it 
did  her  good.  She  determined  to  go  in,  as 
soon  as  she  had  finished  the  dusting,  and  see 
what  was  amusing  Ralph  so  much. 

After  the  loss  of  his  nails,  the  workman 
seemed  to  think  something  was  wrong.  He 
looked  all  about,  questioned  some  of  the 
other  carpenters,  and  finally  went  to  work 
once  more.     But  this  time  he  took  the  nails 


A   SAUCY  THIEF.  19 

from  his  pocket  only  as  he  needed  them, 
and  once  in  a  while  he  wonld  look  around 
as  though  watching  for  somebody.  But  as 
nobody  appeared,  he  at  last  seemed  to  for- 
get his  mysterious  losses  and  to  work  on  in 
his  usual  manner. 

It  was  a  warm  day,  and  as  the  sun  rose 
higher  he  began  to  feel  very  warm.  Ralph 
could  see  how  heated  he  looked,  and  finally 
he  took  out  a  large  red  handkerchief  and 
wiped  his  forehead. 

He  seemed  a  very  absent-minded  sort  of 
workman,  for  now  he  laid  his  handkerchief 
down  beside  him  while  he  again  turned  to 
his  work. 

"  Mamma,  come  quick,  quick  !  "  Ralph 
shouted,  and  mamma  hurried  to  his  side. 

He  pointed  to  the  window.  "  Now  watch 
that  man's  handkerchief,''  he  said.  "  Don't 
take  your  eyes  from  it." 

Mamma  wondered  what  Ralph  meant, 
but  she  did  as  he  said,  and  pretty  soon, 


20  A   SAUCY  THIEF. 

when  the  man  had  gone  to  work  and  quite 
turned  his  back  to  his  handkerchief,  down 
swooped  a  big  black  crow,  picked  up  the 
handkerchief  and  flew  off  with  it. 

Then  how  Ralph  did  laugh  and  clap  his 
hands!  "It's  just  too  funny,  mamma/' 
he  said.  And  then  he  explained  to  her  how 
the  crow  had  been  playing  jokes  on  the 
carpenter  all  the  morning. 

Mamma  laughed,  too,  and  then  she  said, 
"  I  think,  Ralph,  that  we  will  have  to  arrest 
Mr.  Crow.  Shall  we  tell  the  man  who  his 
tormentor  is  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Ralph  ;  "  only  do  please  wait 
until  he  finds  his  handkerchief  gone." 

So  they  waited,  and  presently  the  man 
turned  to  take  up  his  handkerchief,  for  he 
had  grown  very  warm  again.  His  look  of 
blank  astonishment  when  he  found  it  gone 
was  too  much  for  both  Ralph  and  mamma, 
and  they  laughed  till  the  tears  stood  in 
their  eyes. 


A    SAUCY  THIEF. 

Then  mamma  went  out  on  the  front 
steps  and  tried  to  call  to  the  man,  but  he 
was  shouting  and  motioning  to  the  other 
workmen  in  such  a  frantic  way,  that  she 
had  to  go  over  to  the  building  before  she 
could  make  him  hear  her. 

Ralph  watched  from  the  window.  He 
saw  the  man  turn  at  last  and  listen  to  what 
his  mamma  had  to  say,  and  then  he  saw  them 
both  go  around  to  the  farther  end  of  a  pile 
of  lumber,  where  there  was  a  space  between 
two  boards ;  and  there,  safely  stowed  away, 
were  the  pencils,  the  nails,  and  the  handker- 
chief ! 

Then  Ralph  saw  mamma  point  up  into 
the  branches  of  a  tree  which  stood  near; 
and  as  she  did  so,  there  came  from  it  a 
saucy  cry  of  "  Caw  !  caw  !  caw  !  " 

The  other  workmen  shouted  with  laugh- 
ter. At  first  the  subject  of  Mr.  Crow's 
practical  joke  was  inclined  to  be  angry,  but 


A  A    SAUCY   THIEF. 

at  last  his  better  nature  conquered,  and  he 
laughed  with  the  rest. 

As  he  went  back  to  work,  Ralph  saw  him 
take  the  handkerchief  and  tie  it  under  his 
chin,  and  mamma  explained  when  she 
came  in  that  he  said  he  would  have  to  tie 
his  cap  on  next,  or  the  bird  would  be  fly- 
ing; off  with  that. 

But  Jim  Crow  seemed  satisfied  with  his 
morning's  work,  and  after  his  trick  was 
discovered  he  flew  off  home,  and  the  poor 
workman  was  left  in  peace. 

Ralph  was  so  much  better  the  next  day, 
that  mamma  said  she  believed  his  laughing 
over  the  crow's  pranks  had  done  him  more 
good  than  medicine. 


MRS.  WIGGINS'  SWEET  PEAS 


"A  /TRS.  WIGGINS  was  cross ;  really  cross. 
-L*J-  She  had  planted  and  watered  and 
weeded  her  sweet  pea  bed,  till  it  was  full 
of  delicate  buds  just  beginning  to  show  a 
promise  of  the  pink  and  lavender  and  red 
and  white  glories  that  would  soon  gladden 
her  eyes. 

"They  will  be  out  by  morning,  I  am 
sure,"  Mrs.  Wiggins  had  said  as  she  took 
a  last  look  at  them  in  the  twilight ;  and 
she  had  even  dreamed  of  them  in  her  sleep. 
She  was  a  lonely  woman,  who  had  lived  to 
middle  life  without  any  children  about  her 
to  brighten  up  the  sombre  little  home,  and 
her  blossoms  meant  a  great  deal  to  her. 

In  the  morning  she  went  out  to  the 
yard  early,  and  behold,  her  vines  were  bare 

23 


24  MRS.    WIGGINS'    SWEET  PEAS. 

of  every  blossom  !  There  coulb  de  no  mis- 
take, —  somebody  bad  picked  them,  —  for 
did  not  the  little  empty  stems  stand  shak- 
ing in  the  wind  with  indignation  ? 

At  first  Mrs.  Wiggins  was  too  much  as- 
tonished to  speak,  if  indeed  there  had  been 
anybody  to  speak  to.  But  finally  she  found 
her  voice,  and  it  was  a  very  angry  one  in- 
deed. 

"  It 's  those  Martin  children  ;  I  just  know 
it  is.  There  's  nobody  else  around  here  so 
mischievous  as  they  are,  and  it  must  have 
been  they." 

I  suppose  she  was  talking  to  the  little 
stems,  but  they  only  shook  in  the  wind 
and  answered  never  a  word. 

Mrs.  Wiggins  went  into  the  house,  but 
her  breakfast  did  not  suit  her  and  none  of 
her  work  went  right.  The  more  she  thought 
of  her  sweet  peas,  the  surer  she  became  that 
the  Martin  children  had  taken  them,  until 
at  last  she  felt  as  though  she  actually  had 


MRS.    WIGGINS'    SWEET  PEAS.  25 

seen  them  do  it.  So  when  little  Bessie 
Martin  went  tripping  past  her  house  along 
toward  noon,  she  stalked  to  the  door  and 
exclaimed, 

"  What  in  the  world  did  you  children  take 
my  sweet  peas  for,  I  'd  like  to  know  ! " 

Bessie  stopped,  and  her  big,  brown  eyes, 
looked  up  in  wonder.  u  I  did  n't  take 
your  sweet  peas,  Mrs.  Wiggins,"  she  said. 

"  Well,  some  of  you  must  have,  and  I 
should  think  you  'd  be  ashamed  of  your- 
selves ! "  And  then  Mrs.  Wiggins  disap- 
peared and  the  door  closed   with  a  bang. 

Bessie  stood  a  moment,  too  much  sur- 
prised to  move.  Then  with  a  burst  of 
tears  she  turned  about  and  sped  home. 
Ben,  who  was  several  years  older,  met  her 
at  the  gate. 

"  What 's  the  matter  ? "  he  exclaimed, 
for  it  was  something  unusual  to  find  Bessie 
in  tears. 

"  Somebody    has   stolen   Mrs.    Wiggins' 


26  MRS.    WIGGINS'    SWEET  PEAS. 

sweet  peas,  and  she  thinks  it's  us,"  said 
Bessie,  losing  sight  of  her  grammar  in  her 
excitement. 

Ben  was  indignant. 

"I'll  find  out  who  stole  those  flowers,  if 
for  no  other  reason  than  to  show  her  we 
didn't  do  it!"  he  said;  and  he  kept  his 
word. 

All  that  day  he  kept  one  eye  —  as  he  ex- 
pressed it  —  on  Mrs.  Wiggins'  sweet-pea  bed, 
but  there  was  nothing  worth  while  to  see. 
But  early  the  next  morning  he  was  out 
weeding  his  vegetable  garden,  and  suddenly 
he  remembered  the  sweet  peas.  He  looked 
across  to  Mrs.  Wiggins',  and  there,  in  the 
very  act  of  picking  a  beautiful  blossom,  was 
his  own  pet  crow.  His  first  impulse  was 
to  rush  at  the  bird,  but  then  he  thought  he 
would  wait  and  see  what  was  done  with  the 
blossoms.  Jim  Crow  flew  from  the  vines 
to  the  gate-post,  where  he  worked  away  for 
a  time,  and  then   flew    back    for    another 


MBS.    WIGGINS'    SWEET  PEAS.  27 

blossom.  But  Ben  was  too  quick  for  him, 
and  drove  him  home  in  disgrace. 

Then  Ben  went  in  and  told  Bessie  all 
about  it  —  how  Jim  Crow  had  picked  the 
blossoms  and  poked  them  all  into  a  crevice 
under  the  top  of  the  gate-post.  Bessie  had 
been  very  much  troubled  by  Mrs.  Wiggins' 
accusation,  and  now  she  said,  "  I  '11  go  and 
see  Mrs.  Wiggins  to-day." 

"I  guess  I  wouldn't  go  near  her,"  Ben 
said.  "  She  was  cross  enough  to  you  yester- 
day morning,  I  should  think.  You  had  bet- 
ter keep  away." 

"  Oh,  but  I  don't  want  her  to  be  cross," 
Bessie  answered  with  a  bright  little  smile; 
"  and  that  is  the  reason  I  am  going  over  to 
explain." 

"  Well,  if  the  matter  must  be  explained," 
said  Ben,  half  won  over  by  Bessie's  smile, 
"  let  me  go  and  do  it.  I  '11  tell  her  it  was 
Jim  Crow  that  did  it,  and  that  she  'd  better 
not  speak  to  you  again  the  way  she  did." 


28  MRS.    WIGGINS'    SWEET   PEAS. 

At  that  Bessie  laughed  outright.  "  Now, 
Ben,"  she  said,  "  you  know  you  would  n't 
say  that,  when  you  got  there,  and  it 
would  n't  do,  anyway.  No,  indeed  ;  I  know 
a  much  better  way  than  that.  I  '11  make 
it  all  right,  you  see  if  I  don't.'' 

"  Very  well,"  answered  Ben  ;  "  I  suppose 
you  're  right ;  but  I  don't  envy  you  your 
visit.''  Ben  knew  that  Bessie's  kind,  happy 
ways  were  much  more  apt  to  set  things 
right  than  were  his  own,  so  he  gave  vent 
to  his  feelings  by  going  out  to  the  yard  and 
bestowing  a  good  scolding  upon  Jim  Crow. 
But  Jim  only  said,  "  Caw,  caw,"  in  a  very 
saucy  way. 

As  Mrs.  Wiggins  was  washing  her  break- 
fast dishes,  Bessie  suddenly  appeared  in  the 
doorway  with  something  square  and  hard 
in  her  fat  little  hands.  She  stepped  into 
the  room  and  sat  down  on  the  floor. 

"  Mrs.  Wiggins,"  she  said,  "  it  ivas  one  of 
us  that  took  your  sweet  peas,  but  it  was  n't 


MRS.    WIGGINS'    SWEET  PEAS.  29 

one  of  us  children.  It  was  our  Jim  Crow, 
and  I  can  show  you  just  where  he  hid  the 
blossoms.  But  as  long  as  he  belongs  to  us, 
I  suppose  we  're  responsible  for  him,  and  so 
I  thought  I  'd  pay  you  for  the  flowers  he 
took ; ''  and  with  that  she  grasped  the  hard 
object  which  had  been  lying  in  her  lap  and 
began  to  shake  it.  It  was  her  bank,  and 
out  the  pennies  began  to  roll. 

Mrs.  Wiggins  was  once  more  too  much 
astonished  to  speak.  She  stood  and  looked 
at  the  little  girl  on  the  floor.  She  was  still 
shaking  her  bank,  while  the  pennies  rolled 
in  all  directions. 

Perhaps  a  great  longing  came  into  Mrs. 
Wiggins'  heart  at  the  sight.  Perhaps  she 
wished  —  well,  at  any  rate  the  next  thing 
Bessie  knew  Mrs.  Wiggins  was  holding  her 
close  in  her  arms  and  crying  over  her. 
But  somehow  Bessie  seemed  to  know  that 
Mrs.  Wiggins  was  not  crying  over  the  loss 
of  her  sweet  peas  ;  and  after  a  while  they 


30  MRS.    WIGGINS'    SWEET  PEAS. 

went  out  into  the  yard  together,  and  looked 
into  the  crevice  under  the  gate-post,  and 
then  Mrs.  Wiggins  actually  laughed.  Then 
she  gathered  a  few  blossoms  which  had 
burst  out  since  Jim  Crow's  depredations 
and  put  them  into  Bessie's  hand. 

After  that  she  and  Bessie  had  great  fun 
gathering  up  the  pennies,  which  had  gone 
off  into  all  sorts  of  odd  corners,  and  which 
Mrs.  Wiggins  insisted  upon  putting  back 
into  the  bank. 

When  Bessie  had  said  "good-by,"  prom- 
ising to  come  again,  and  had  started  down 
the  path,  Mrs.  Wiggins  looked  after  her,  and 
said  to  the  sweet  pea  stems,  "  She 's  just  as 
sweet  as  your  blossoms  !  " 

And  the  sweet  pea  stems  fluttered  gladly, 
but  answered  never  a  word. 


TIPPIES   VISIT. 


r  I  HIPPIE  was  a  little  black-and-tan  dog 
-*-  that  lived  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 
He  belonged  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Austin,  and 
they  thought  a  great  deal  of  him.  They 
quite  often  talked  to  Tippie,  and  as  he 
never  spent  much  time  with  other  dogs, 
but  was  with  people  every  day,  he  learned 
to  be  very  intelligent.  All  his  friends  con- 
sidered him  a  smart  dog,  but  he  surprised 
even  them  one  day,  and  this  is  the  way 
he  did  it : 

He  used  to  go  very  often  to  visit  a  little 
boy  who  lived  about  two  blocks  from  his 
home.     This  little  boy's  name  was  Charlie. 

One  day  Charlie's  mamma  was  taken 
sick.  Charlie  always  slept  in  his  mother's 
room,  but  now    his    grandmother    did  not 

31 


32  TIPPIE' S    VISIT. 

think  best  for  him  to  do  so,  so  she  said  to 
him, 

"  Now  I  am  going  to  make  a  bed  for  you 
on  the  floor  of  this  small  room  just  off  from 
mamma's,  and  when  Tippie  comes  over  you 
may  invite  him  to  come  and  sleep  with  you 
to-night." 

Charlie  thought  that  would  be  fine,  so 
he  made  no  objection  to  sleeping  away 
from  mamma,  but  said,  "  All  right,"  in- 
stead. And  this  was  just  what  his  grand- 
mother had  hoped. 

When  Tippie  came  over,  Charlie  took  him 
into  the  little  room  and  showed  him  his 
bed.     Then  he  said, 

"  Now,  Tippie,  when  you  go  home  you  ask 
your  mamma  to  let  you  come  over  here  to- 
night and  sleep  with  me.  Come  to-night" 
he  added,  slowly,  looking  straight  into  Tip- 
pie's  eyes,  "and  stay  all  night.  Now, 
Tippie,  remember." 

Tippie  put  his  head  on  one   side  for  a 


"NOW.TIPPIE,    REMEMBER. 


TIPPIE' S   VISIT.  33 

moment  as  he  looked  at  Charlie,  then  he 
wagged  his  tail  and  went  home. 

That  evening  about  eight  o'clock  Tippie 
stood  up  in  the  corner  and  barked.  This 
was  the  way  in  which  he  had  been  taught 
to  say  that  he  wanted  to  get  out  doors. 

Mrs.  Austin  started  to  open  the  door, 
but  Mr.  Austin  stopped  her.  "  It  is  too 
late,"  he  said.  "  If  Tippie  goes  out  at  this 
hour  he  will  get  lost  or  some  one  will  take 
him  off." 

"  I  think  he  will  be  all  right,"  Mrs. 
Austin  answered,  and  opened  the  door. 

Tippie  quickly  frisked  out  with  every 
sign  of  delight.  The  evening  passed,  but 
no  Tippie  came  to  the  door  to  be  let  in. 
Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Austin  grew  anxious, 
and  Mrs.  Austin  began  to  think  that  her 
husband  had  been  right.  The  house  was 
closed  for  the  night,  and  still  no  Tippie 
appeared. 

In  the  morning  Mr.  Austin  was  obliged 


34  TIP  PIE'S   VISIT. 

to  go  to  the  office  early.  After  he  had 
gone  Mrs.  Austin  heard  a  sound  that  made 
her  hurry  to  the  door.  As  she  opened  it, 
in  walked  Tippie,  apparently  as  glad  to  see 
her  as  she  was  to  see  him. 

She  knew  that  Mr.  Austin  would  be  glad 
to  know  that  Tippie  was  safe,  so  she  walked 
down  to  the  office,  taking  the  little  truant 
with  her. 

On  her  way  back,  she  thought  she  would 
see  how  Charlie's  mamma  was,  so  she  and 
Tippie  stopped  at  the  house.  After  visit- 
ing awhile,  Charlie's  grandmother  said, 

"  Did  you  miss  Tippie  last  night  ?  " 

"  Why,  yes,"  Mrs.  Austin  answered ; 
"  do  you  know  anything  about  where  he 
was?" 

"  Why,  he  was  here,"  she  replied.  And 
then  she  told  about  Charlie's  invitation  to 
Tippie,  and  of  Tippie' s  putting  his  head  on 
one  side  as  if  to  consider  what  Charlie  said, 
then  wagging  his  tail  and  going  home. 


TIPPIE'S    VISIT.  35 

"At  eight  o'clock,"  she  added,  "we 
heard  a  scratch  on  the  door.  We  opened 
it,  and  there  stood  Tippie.  We  invited 
him  in,  and  he  ran  right  across  the  house 
to  the  little  room  that  Charlie  had  shown 
him.  He  sniffed  around  the  bed  until  he 
discovered  that  Charlie  was  in  it,  and  then 
he  curled  quietly  down  by  his  feet  and  went 
to  sleep.  And  there  he  spent  the  night, 
just  as  he  had  been  invited  to  do." 


PONCE'S   VACATION 


DO  you  think  that  dogs  can  appreciate 
jokes  ?  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
they  can.  Ponce  could,  anyway ;  I  am 
positive  of  that. 

Ponce  was  a  fine  shepherd  dog,  very  in- 
telligent, and  valuable  to  his  master.  But 
for  a  wonder,  Ponce  had  run  away  from 
home.  I  don't  know  what  possessed  him 
to  do  it,  for  he  was  always  well  fed  and 
well  cared  for,  and  he  had  regular  daily 
tasks  to  do  besides.  He  knew  how  to 
bring  home  the  cows  at  night  just  as  well 
as  John,  the  hired  man,  did.  Perhaps  it 
was  because  of  these  tasks  that  he  ran 
away.  To  be  sure  he  really  enjoyed  them, 
and  they  were  not  in  the  least  hard,  but  it 
was  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  and  the  long- 

36 


PONCE'S   VACATION.  37 

ing  to  be  free  and  to  rove  without  restraint, 
which  sometimes  takes  possession  of  people 
at  that  time,  may  have  had  its  effect  on 
Ponce,  too. 

Whatever  the  reason,  he  had  run  away 
and  was  trotting  contentedly  down  the 
street,  wagging  his  tail  with  satisfaction. 

Presently  he  met  four  girls. 

"  Why,"  exclaimed  Madge,  "  is  n't  that 
the  dog  that  ran  away  from  Mr.  Price's  ?  " 

"I  just  believe  it  must  be,"  answered 
Edna.  "  That  was  a  shepherd  dog,  and 
yes,  it  has  a  black  spot  on  its  forehead." 

"Of  course  it  is,"  declared  Caroline; 
"  there  is  the  white  tip  on  the  tail." 

"  How  do  you  know  so  much  about  Mr. 
Price's  dog  ?  "  questioned  Gertrude.  "  Did 
any  of  you  ever  see  it  ?  " 

"No,"  responded  Caroline  quickly,  "but 
I  guess  we  've  got  the  description  by  heart. 
Mr.  Price  thought  so  much  of  him,  and  he 
helped    drive  the   cows    home,  and  every- 


38  PONCE'S   VACATION. 

thing.  He  described  him  to  the  boys 
around,  and  said  he  'd  give  a  dollar  to  any 
one  who  would  bring  him  home." 

Gertrude  opened  her  eyes.  "A  dollar  ! 
Goodness,  girls,  we  could  have  a  lot  of  fun 
with  a  dollar." 

"And  wouldn't  it  be  a  joke  on  the  boys 
if  we  could  get  ahead  of  them  and  take  the 
dog  home  before  they  knew  about  it,"  said 
Madge. 

"  Let 's  do  it,"  they  exclaimed  in  chorus. 

"  But  who  knows  where  Mr.  Price  lives  ?  " 
suggested  Edna. 

And  then  the  girls  looked  at  each  other, 
but  nobody  said  a  word. 

"  Here  comes  Fayra !  "  exclaimed  Madge. 
"Let's  see  if  she  knows." 

And  then  they  all  began  talking  to  Fayra 
at  once. 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  know  where  Mr.  Price 
lives,"  she  answered.  "  Why  do  you  want 
to  know  ?  " 


PONCE'S   VACATION.  39 

They  explained  that  they  had  found  his 
shepherd  dog  which  he  had  offered  one 
dollar   to   have    returned. 

"  It  \s  quite  a  way  out  in  the  country/' 
said  Fayra,  "  but  it 's  a  perfect  day  for  a 
walk.     Let 's  start  right  away." 

"  How  '11  we  take  the  dog?"  asked  Edna. 

"  Oh,  I'll  get  a  rope  and  we'll  lead 
him/'  answered  Caroline,  and  off  she 
started  toward  the  barn. 

The  other  girls  began  calling  to  Ponce, 
who  had  fortunately  stopped  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  street  to  examine  a  suspi- 
cious-looking hole. 

He  came  when  they  called,  wagging  his 
tail  in  friendly  fashion  ;  and  when  Caroline 
came  back  with  the  rope  he  made  no  par- 
ticular objection  to  their  putting  it  around 
his  neck. 

Then  they  started  for  the  country,  tak- 
ing turns  in  leading  Ponce,  who  seemed 
really  glad  to  have  fallen  in  with  such  good 


40  PONCE'S   VACATION. 

company,  even  though  they  were  leading 
him  captive  and  spoiling  his  plans  for  a 
more  extended  vacation. 

On  the  way  they  talked  a  great  deal 
about  the  best  use  of  the  dollar  they  were 
to  receive,  and  made  wild  dashes  after 
stray  flowers  that  grew  along  the  roadside. 
Ponce  dashed  out  with  them,  and  some- 
times it  seemed  as  though  he  were  having 
the  best  time  of  them  all. 

There  was  one  steep  hill  to  climb,  and 
the  girls  agreed  with  Fayra's  statement 
that  it  was  a  long  way  to  Mr.  Price's,  but 
there  were  woods  and  flowers  along  the 
way,  and  it  was  pleasant  after  all. 

Presently  they  came  to  a  big  gate,  which 
seemed  to  block  the  road. 

"  Take  hold,  girls,  and  help  push  it  back," 
called  Fayra.  "This  is  where  Mr.  Price 
lives." 

They  all  took  hold,  and  the  gate  slid 
back,   and    in  a    moment  more  they  were 


PONCE'S    VACATION.  41 

walking  down  the  lane  which  led  to  the 
farmhouse. 

Ponce  barked  and  jumped  and  almost 
wagged  himself  in  two,  running  from  one 
to  another  of  the  girls. 

"  See  how  glad  he  is  to  get  home/'  said 
Caroline. 

Just  then  a  pleasant-looking  man  came 
out  of  the  door  of  the  house  and  walked 
down  the  lane  toward  them. 

"  That 's  Mr.  Price,"  said  Fayra,  quickly. 
"  Now,  Madge,  you  do  the  talking." 

And  as  some  one  had  to  say  something, 
Madge  began  : 

"  Mr.  Price,  we  have  brought  your 
dog"  —  but  something  in  the  expression 
of  Mr.  Price's  face  made  her  stop. 

"  I  thank  you  very  much  for  having 
gone  to  so  much  trouble,"  he  answered, 
"  but  really,  that  isnt  my  dog." 

And  then  you  should  have  seen  the  ex- 
pression on  the  faces  of  those  five  girls ! 


42  PONCE'S    VACATION. 

But  what  do  you  suppose  Ponce  did  ? 
He  just  laid  down  and  rolled  on  the 
ground,  and  no  one  who  saw  him  could 
help  but  believe  that  he  was  laughing  too 
hard  to  stand  up. 

The  girls  did  not  lead  him  home,  but  he 
pranced  along  with  them,  as  though  he  were 
not  half  so  disgusted  with  their  society  as 
they  were  with  his. 

And  that  night  Ponce  went  back  to  his 
real  home  and  settled  down  to  work  again, 
feeling,  no  doubt,  that  his  vacation  fun  had 
done  him  a  world  of  good. 


BRAVE   TRIX. 


"TTNCLE  FRED  was  a  fireman,  and  he 
^  was  Lawrence's  hero.  Trix  was 
Uncle  Fred's  dog,  and  the  most  wonderful 
dog,  in  Lawrence's  estimation,  that  ever 
lived.  And  Trix  proved  that  he  deserved 
Lawrence's  good  opinion,  but  that  is  what 
I  am  going  to  tell  you  about. 

Whenever  Lawrence  heard  an  alarm  of 
fire  sounded,  he  flew  to  the  window  of  the 
fire  barn  and  looked  in,  for  he  never  could 
tire  of  seeing  the  horses  dash  from  their 
stalls  to  their  places  in  front  of  the  engine 
or  the  hose  cart.  And  then  it  was  quite 
as  exciting,  after  the  men  had  dropped  the 
harnesses  upon  their  backs  and  snapped 
them  into  place,  to  see  the  great  doors 
swing  open  and  the  horses  go  clattering 

43 


44  BRAVE  TBIX. 

out  of  the  barn  and  away  up  the  street, 
with  the  men  holding  to  their  places,  the 
drivers  grasping  the  lines  and  bracing 
back  at  arm's  length,  and  the  men  at  the 
back  of  the  great  hook  and  ladder  truck, 
turning  the  wheel  which  helps  to  guide  it. 

But  if  Lawrence  flew  when  he  heard  an 
alarm  of  fire,  Trix  went  faster  still,  and  he 
did  not  stay  to  look  through  the  windows, 
but  darted  into  the  barn  and  jumped  up 
beside  the  driver's  seat,  where  he  rode  to 
every  single  fire. 

Of  course  the  firemen  all  petted  Trix, 
and  every  one  in  the  neighborhood  knew 
and  spoke  to  him. 

One  day  the  fire  alarm  sounded,  and 
Lawrence  and  Trix  came  bounding  out  of 
the  yard  together,  and  then  Lawrence 
clasped  his  hands  and  drew  a  sharp  breath 
of  terror,  for  the  fire  was  in  the  house 
directly  opposite  his  own.  He  was  about 
to  shout  to  Trix,  but  he  did  not  need  to, 


BRAVE   TEIX.  45 

for  Trix's  nose  had  detected  the  familiar 
smell  of  smoke,  and  he  stopped  short  and 
began  to  look  around.  In  a  moment  he 
saw  the  thinly  curling  smoke  coming  from 
the  house  across  the  street,  and  away  he 
dashed,  not  to  the  fire  barn  this  time,  but 
straight  for  the  front  door  of  the  house, 
which  stood  wide  open. 

"  Oh,"  screamed  Lawrence  ;  "  Trix  '11  get 
burnt  up !  " 

By  this  time  mamma  had  come  out  into 
the  yard,  too. 

"  Trix  is  used  to  fires,  you  must  remem- 
ber," she  said,  quietly,  for  she  saw  how  ex- 
cited Lawrence  was ;  but  really,  she  wondered 
herself  why  Trix  should  go  into  the  house. 

But  they  had  not  long  to  wonder,  for 
just  at  that  moment  Trix  came  dashing  out 
again  with  a  sofa  pillow  in  his  mouth. 
Running  to  a  corner  of  the  yard  he 
dropped  it  on  the  grass  and  ran  back. 
Lawrence  clapped  his  hands  and  began  to 


46  BRAVE  TRIX. 

watch  eagerly,  and  in  a  moment  Trix  came 
out  again,  carefully  carrying  a  lady's  hat, 
which  he  laid  beside  the  sofa  pillow. 

By  this  time  the  family  and  neighbors 
began  bringing  out  pieces  of  furniture, 
bedding,  and  clothes,  but  Trix  went  fastest 
of  all,  and  soon  added  to  his  collection  a 
floor-brush  and  a  waste-paper  basket. 

Then  the  fire  department  came  dashing 
up,  with  a  ringing  of  gongs  and  a  clatter  of 
horses'  hoofs,  and  as  the  men  jumped  down 
and  went  hurrying  up  the  steps  of  the 
house,  out  dashed  Trix  again,  and  what  do 
you  suppose  he  had  this  time  ?  Well,  it 
was  a  dear  little  baby,  and  he  was  carry- 
ing it  just  as  carefully  as  its  mother  could 
have  done,  only  he  had  it  by  the  back, 
grasping  its  clothes  firmly  in  his  teeth, 
and  holding  his  head  high  up  in  the  air. 

"  Good  dog !  "  exclaimed  Uncle  Fred, 
who  was  just  running  into  the  house. 
And   then    Trix  wagged  his  tail   hard,   as 


BRAVE  TEIX.  47 

Uncle  Fred  took  the  baby  in  his  arms  and 
carried  it  across  the  street  to  Lawrence's 
mother,  while  all  the  people  around  gave 
a  great  shout. 

Somehow,  in  the  excitement  everybody 
had  supposed  that  somebody  else  had  the 
baby,  for  its  mother  was  away  from  home. 

It  was  not  long  after  the  firemen  came 
that  the  fire  was  put  out,  and  Trix,  after 
riding  back  to  the  barn  in  his  usual  place, 
ran  over  to  see  Lawrence  again. 

Lawrence's  praise  would  quite  have 
turned  his  head,  I  am  sure,  if  he  had  not 
been  a  sensible  dog ;  but  as  it  was,  he  was 
just  as  ready  for  a  game  of  tag  as  before 
he  became  a  hero. 

Of  course  the  story  of  Trix's  presence 
of  mind  was  told  many  times  over  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  the  father  of  the  baby 
gave  him  a  beautiful  collar  with  a  little 
silver  plate,  on  which  was  engraved 
"  Brave  Trix." 


PETER'S   BOARDING-HOUSE. 


F~\ID  you  ever  hear  of  a  cat  taking  in 
-*-^  boarders  ?  I  never  did  till  I  heard 
of  Peter.  But  he  was  a  real  cat,  and  this 
is  a  true  story  I  am  going  to  tell  you. 

Peter  was  only  an  adopted  cat,  but  his 
master  thought  just  as  much  of  him  as 
though  he  had  been  born  and  brought  up 
on  the  premises.  And  it  is  no  wonder,  for 
he  proved  himself  more  kind  and  thought- 
ful than  some  of  the  grown  people  of  his 
neighborhood.     But  that  was  afterward. 

Peter's  master,  Dr.  Hartley,  found  him 
during  a  pelting  rain,  and  took  the  poor, 
forlorn,  wet  kitten  home  with  him  and 
put  him  on  his  warm  hearth-rug.  Peter 
soon  shook  off  the  rain-drops  and  the 
air  of  dejection  which  he  had  brought  in, 

48 


PETER'S  BOARDING-HOUSE.  49 

and  prepared  to  make  friends  with  his  new 
master,  and  it  was  not  long  before  Dr. 
Hartley  decided  that  he  would  keep  Peter 
for  his  own  cat. 

Peter  thrived  finely,  for  of  course  a 
doctor's  cat  would  be  expected  to  eat  only 
those  things  which  were  good  for  him,  and 
he  grew  to  be  big  and  sleek.  He  was  a 
friendly  cat,  and  he  made  the  acquaintance 
of  the  other  cats  of  the  neighborhood  while 
the  doctor  was  out  calling  on  his  patients. 

Every  morning  Peter  went  with  the 
doctor  to  the  corner  near  their  house,  and 
at  the  corner  the  doctor  would  turn  and 
say  "good-by,"  and  Peter  would  give  an 
answering  "  mew  "  and  turn  and  trot  back 
home.  But  one  morning  the  doctor  was 
thinking  of  a  particularly  trying  case  that 
he  was  going  to  visit,  and  when  he  reached 
the  corner  he  forgot  to  say  "  good-by." 

Peter  reached  the  corner  and  mewed, 
but  the  doctor  walked  on.     Peter  stopped 


50  PETER'S  BOARDING-HOUSE. 

a  minute,  then  he  trotted  on  after,  and 
mewed  again  ;  but  still  the  doctor  walked 
on  with  his  mind  full  of  other  matters. 
Peter  ran  after  him  with  patient  determi- 
nation, and  mewed  again,  this  time  louder 
than  ever. 

Then  Dr.  Hartley  stopped,  looked  down 
at  Peter  and  back  to  the  corner  where  he 
usually  left  him.  "  Good-by,  Peter,"  he 
said,  suddenly  remembering  his  companion 
and  his  own  failure  in  courtesy. 

Then  Peter  gave  a  contented  mew,  and 
turned  and  trotted  back  home. 

Dr.  Hartley  lived  next  door  to  a  double 
house,  the  yard  of  which  was  separated 
from  his  own  premises  by  a  high  board 
fence.  With  the  family  which  occupied 
one-half  of  this  double  house  there  lived  a 
cat  and  her  five  kittens,  and  with  the 
family  in  the  other  half  of  the  house  there 
lived  a  very  small  puppy.  Peter  had  made 
the  acquaintance  of  all  of  them. 


PETER'S  BOARDING-HOUSE.  51 

One  day  the  two  families  went  away  for 
a  visit  of  a  week,  and  evidently  they  for- 
got the  kittens  and  the  puppy,  for  they 
were  all  left  behind. 

Not  long  after  these  families  had  gone 
away,  Dr.   Hartley  was   looking  out  of  a 
back  window,  when  he  noticed  that  Peter 
went  over  the  high  fence  several  times  in 
succession,  and  each  time  brought  the  cat 
from  next  door  back  with  him.     Dr.  Hart- 
ley thought  he  would  watch  and  see  what 
Peter  was  up  to.      In  a  few  minutes  the 
cats    went    back,    and    when    they   came 
over  again,  each  had  a  small  kitten  in  its 
mouth.      A   second   trip  was   made,  each 
bringing   a   second    kitten,  and  then  back 
they  went  once  more.     After  a  little  longer 
time  they  appeared   again,  and   this  time 
the  mother  cat  had  her  remaining  kitten 
in  her  mouth,  while  Peter  held  on  firmly 
to    the  small    puppy   from  the   house   be- 
yond.     The  puppy  was  not  enjoying  his 


52  PETER'S  BOARDING-HOUSE. 

trip,  evidently,  for  he  kicked  and  squealed 
with  fright ;  but  Peter  was  not  easily  dis- 
mayed, and  carried  him  in  triumph  into 
the  woodshed. 

Presently  the  doctor  heard  a  mewing  and 
a  scratching  at  his  door,  and  opened  it  to 
find  Peter  standing  in  the  hall.  Now, 
Peter  was  a  diplomatic  cat,  and  when  the 
doctor  opened  the  door  he  rubbed  up  against 
his  leg  in  the  most  coaxing  manner.  Then 
going  a  few  steps  down  the  hall,  he  turned 
and  mewed,  evidently  asking  the  doctor  to 
follow. 

The  doctor  understood,  and  followed. 
Peter  went  straight  to  the  pantry  door, 
arched  his  back  and  rubbed  against  it,  at 
the  same  time  looking  up  into  the  doctor's 
face. 

The  doctor  had  a  way  of  humoring  Peter, 
so  now  he  opened  the  door  and  took  a  gener- 
ous plateful  of  food  from  the  pantry  shelves. 
Then  Peter  in  triumph  led  the  way  to  the 


PETER'S  BOARDItfG-HOUSE.  53 

woodshed,  where  in  his  own  box  lay,  not 
only  the  mother  cat  with  her  five  kittens, 
but  the  refractory  puppy  as  well. 

"  Well  !  "  exclaimed  the  doctor.  "  So 
you  've  taken  boarders,  have  you,  Peter?" 

But  as  he  set  the  plate  of  food  down 
at  the  same  time,  Peter  did  not  take  the 
trouble  to  answer. 

For  a  week  Peter  took  care  of  his  "  board- 
ers," and  then  the  two  families  returned. 

As  soon  as  Peter  learned  of  their  arrival, 
he  went  to  his  box  and  took  up  one  of  the 
kittens.  The  mother  cat  seemed  to  under- 
stand, and  took  up  another,  and  in  the 
same  fashion  that  the  boarders  had  arrived, 
they  took  their  departure,  the  puppy  going 
in  company  with  the  last  kitten,  and  ob- 
jecting just  as  vigorously  as  when  he  came. 

After  returning  from  the  last  trip,  Peter 
walked  lazily  over  and  stretched  himself  out 
in  the  middle  of  the  pansy  bed  for  what  he 
evidently  considered  a  much  needed  rest. 


HOW   MUFF   WON   HER  WAY 


"A  yTAMMA  did  not  like  cats  one  bit,  and 
-*-»-*-  the  strangest  part  of  it  was  that 
she  did  not  even  like  kittens.  So  we 
children  never  had  owned  any,  although 
we  hugged  every  neighbor's  cat  that  we 
could  get  hold  of,  and  often  talked  over  by 
ourselves  how  perfectly  lovely  it  would  be 
if  we  could  just  have  one  for  our  very  own. 
We  had  been  forbidden  to  feed  stray  cats 
about  the  door;  so  when  we  found  one 
that  seemed  especially  needy,  we  coaxed 
it  off  down  the  alley,  and  brought  it  as 
many  dainties  as  we  could  induce  cook  to 
give  us.  All  this  did  not  satisfy  our  long- 
ing to  possess  a  kitten  of  our  own,  but  it 
had  to  answer  us  for  a  long  time.  But  at 
last  something  happened. 

54 


HOW  MUFF   WON  HER    WAY.  55 

It  was  a  very  cold  week  during  the  win- 
ter, and  the  snow  was  several  feet  deep. 
One  day  as  we  were  coming  home  from 
school,  just  as  we  reached  the  corner  of  our 
yard,  Dick  espied  something  gray  in  the 
snow.  He  stopped  to  look  at  it,  and  then 
called  the  rest  of  us  excitedly. 

"Why,  it's  a  kitten!"  he  exclaimed, 
"  and  I  believe  it 's  frozen  in  the  snow." 
We  all  cried  out  in  horror  at  this,  and 
were  at  his  side  at  a  bound. 

It  was  a  kitty,  sure  enough,  and  she  did 
not  move  or  make  a  sound. 

« She  must  be  dead,"  Dick  repeated, 
while  the  rest  of  us  wrung  our  hands  at 
such  a  calamity. 

"Run  for  mamma,"  Dick  suddenly  com- 
manded ;  and  I  darted  away,  glad  to  be 
able  to  do  something. 

Mamma  was  the  one  to  go  to  in  trouble 
of  any  sort,  and  I  reached  her  quite  out  of 
breath. 


56  HOW  MUFF  WON  HER    WAT. 

"  Oh,  mamma,  there  's  a  cat  out  in  the 
snow-drift,  and  she  can't  move,  and  we  're 
afraid  she  's  frozen.  Won't  you  come  out 
and  see  ?  " 

Then,  for  the  first  time,  I  remembered 
how  mamma  disliked  cats,  and  my  heart 
gave  a  big  jump.  But,  dear  me,  I  might 
have  known  better,  for  mamma  was  always 
ready  to  help  anything  that  was  in  trouble, 
and  almost  before  I  had  finished  speaking 
she  had  on  her  overshoes  and  a  shawl,  and 
was  ready  to  go  with  me. 

As  soon  as  we  reached  the  kitty,  mamma 
began  digging  away  the  snow,  and  pretty 
soon  she  lifted  it  out.  Poor  kitty  seemed 
quite  stiff,  but  mamma  said,  "  I  don't 
think  she  is  dead  ;"  and  then  how  glad  we 
all  were. 

We  took  her  into  the  kitchen,  wrapped 
her  in  a  blanket,  and  after  a  while  she  gave 
a  faint  mew.  We  children  fairly  danced 
about  at  that,  and  some  of  us  watched  her 


HOW  MUFF  WON  HER    WAY.  57 

all  the  rest  of  the  afternoon.  By  night  she 
was  able  to  take  a  little  milk  ;  and  then  we 
felt  sure  she  was  going  to  get  well. 

Somehow  nothing  was  said  about  where 
she  was  to  live  after  she  should  grow  quite 
strong  again ;  but  we  children  made  the 
most  of  our  opportunity,  and  cuddled  her 
and  loved  her  and  fed  her  dainty  bits  that 
we  saved  from  our  plates. 

After  the  kitty  got  well,  mamma  paid 
no  attention  to  her.  She  sort  of  acted  as 
though  she  did  n't  know  there  was  a  kitty 
around.  But  one  night  when  we  children 
were  all  having  a  good  time  with  Muff,  as 
we  had  named  the  kitten,  I  heard  papa  say 
to  mamma,  "  Just  watch  those  children;" 
and  mamma  answered,  "  Yes,  I  have.  I 
did  n't  suppose  children  could  think  so 
much  of  a  cat." 

I  would  have  felt  quite  glad  over  mam- 
ma's answer  if  she  hadn't  said  "cat"  in 
such  a  tone  at  the  end. 


58  HOW  MUFF  WON  HER    WAY. 

One  evening,  a  little  later,  as  we  were 
all  sitting  before  the  grate  fire,  kitty  came 
in  and  curled  down  at  papa's  feet.  In  a 
little  while  she  began  to  purr  contentedly, 
and  papa  smiled  at  mamma  as  he  said,  "  It 
sounds  quite  homelike,  does  n't  it  ?  " 

Mamma  smiled  a  little,  but  did  not  say 
anything.  I  began  to  wonder  if  papa 
did  n't  like  kittens  pretty  well. 

After  awhile  Muff  got  up  and  began 
playing  with  the  balls  on  mamma's  wrap- 
per. She  boxed  the  balls  around,  and 
tumbled  the  cutest  little  somersaults,  and 
danced  around  on  her  back  legs,  till  we  all 
began  laughing  so  heartily  that  she  ran 
behind  the  heavy  curtains  and  looked  out 
at  us  in  wonder.  Then  mamma  tied  a 
string  to  an  empty  spool  and  gave  it  to  me 
so  that  I  could  coax  her  out,  and  we  all 
watched  her  as  she  played  with  it  a  long 
time. 

I  looked  at  papa  when  mamma  did  that, 


HOW  MUFF   WON  HER    WAY.  59 

and  he  nodded  and  smiled  to  me,  and  I 
smiled  back,  but  we  did  n't  say  anything. 

After  that  we  watched  the  kitty  play 
very  often  in  the  evening.  It  was  great 
fun. 

One  day  we  children  sat  on  the  back 
doorstep  and  cautiously  began  talking  over 
the  possibility  of  kitty's  being  allowed  to 
make  her  home  with  us. 

"  Oh,  mamma  'd  never  !  "  Dick  exclaimed, 
with  firm  conviction. 

The  others  began  looking  forlorn  over 
this  emphatic  speech,  and  I  was  sent  to 
bring  out  Muff  so  that  we  might  enjoy  her 
as  much  as  possible  before  we  were  obliged 
to  give  her  up. 

I  knew  that  mamma  was  lying  down,  so 
I  tiptoed  in  softly.  I  looked  in  the  kitchen 
and  in  the  library,  two  of  Muff's  favorite 
places  for  napping,  but  did  not  find  her,  so 
I  went  on  into  mamma's  room.  I  peeped 
in   quietly,    and   what    do    you    suppose  I 


60  HOW  MUFF  WON  HER    WAY. 

saw  ?  Why,  mamma  was  lying  on  the 
couch,  and  there  curled  down  beside  her 
was  Muff,  fast  asleep,  with  mamma's  hand 
stroking  her  gray  fur  softly. 

I  did  n't  say  a  word  to  mamma,  but  I 
rushed  out  to  the  children,  and  dancing 
before  them  I  exclaimed,  "  Mamma  's  cud- 
dling the  kitten  !  Mamma  \s  cuddling  the 
kitten !  " 

"Then  she  can  stav !  "  we  all  shouted; 
and  in  we  rushed  pell-mell  to  mamma,  and 
hugged  both  her  and  the  kitten  in  our 
ecstacy. 

And  that  is  how  Muff  became  one  of  the 
family. 


HOW  THE   KITTENS   WERE 
NAMED. 


r  I  1HERE  was  the  mother  cat  with  five 
-^  kittens,  and  none  of  the  kittens  had 
names.  Somehow,  the  children  had  been 
so  busy  watching  them  tumble  over  each 
other  and  try  to  walk  and  then  all  go  to 
sleep  in  a  bunch,  that  they  had  not  thought 
of  naming  them. 

The  mother  cat  was  gray,  and  four  of 
the  kittens  were  gray,  but  the  fifth  cat  was 
black,  jet  black,  and  so  without  planning 
or  forethought  the  fifth  kitten  came  to  be 
called  Blackie. 

It  was  easy  enough  to  tell  her  from  the 
others,  but  how  to  tell  the  four  gray  ones 
apart  was  a  question.  At  last  it  was  dis- 
covered that  three   of  the    gray    ones  had 

61 


62       HOW   THE  KITTENS    WERE  NAMED. 

white  feet,  while  the  fourth  one  was  gray  all 
over.  So  again,  without  a  thought  of  nam- 
ing her,  the  children  began  calling  her  Gray 
Paws. 

And  then  there  were  the  other  three. 
One  of  these  had  but  one  eye,  the  children 
found  out,  sorrowfully,  after  the  kittens 
were  old  enough  to  prove  that  they  had 
any  eyes  at  all,  and  then  in  all  tenderness 
and  with  no  thought  of  reproach,  the 
afflicted  kitten  became  One  Eye. 

Still  there  were  two  left ;  two  that 
looked  almost  exactly  alike.  But  of  course 
the  children  watched  them  every  day,  and 
it  did  not  take  them  long  to  find  out  that 
one  of  these  was  a  very  spunky  kitten. 
She  would  spit  at  the  others  if  they  came 
near  when  she  was  eating,  or  if  she  was 
suddenly  surprised  by  any  one ;  and  when 
this  was  discovered  she  was  dubbed  the 
Spitfire  of  the  family. 

But   the   remaining  kitten  was  the   one 


HOW   THE  KITTENS    WERE  NAMED.        63 

that  made  the  others  "  stand  'round."  If 
they  did  not  do  as  she  saw  fit  she  boxed 
their  ears.  If  the  rest  came  around  her 
saucer  of  milk  she  cuffed  them  away,  and 
so,  of  course,  she  was  the  Boss. 

And  no  one  was  more  surprised  than 
the  children  when  they  discovered  that  the 
kittens  were  all  named,  for  every  one  was 
sure  he  had  not  named  them. 

And  such  a  funny  lot  of  names  as  it  was  : 
Blackie,  Gray  Paws,  One  Eye,  Spitfire,  and 
Boss.  But  the  names  all  fitted,  and  some 
of  them  had  been  earned,  and  the  kittens 
did  n't  seem  to  mind  them  in  the  least. 


OLD   WOOLLY   STOCKINGS 


OLD  Woolly  Stockings  was  a  big  white 
rooster  that  belonged  to  Freddie 
Coates.  He  had  been  christened  Woolly 
Stockings  because  his  feet  and  legs  were 
covered  with  white  feathers. 

The  way  Freddie  came  to  have  the 
rooster  was  this  :  Freddie's  papa  had  bought 
him  when  he  was  just  a  young  rooster,  and 
brought  him  home,  intending  to  have  him 
killed  and  broiled ;  but  this  seemed  alto- 
gether too  dreadful  to  Freddie,  who  begged 
that  the  rooster  be  given  to  him  to  keep, 
instead. 

So  Woolly  Stockings  became  Fred's  prop- 
erty, although  this  was  before  he  had  been 
given  a  name. 

Before  the  winter  was  over,  Fred  had 
04 


OLD   WOOLLY  STOCKINGS.  65 

become  the  possessor  of  two  more  roosters, 
which  a  friend  in  the  country  had  brought 
to  him.  He  was  too  tender-hearted  to  have 
either  of  these  killed,  but  Woolly  Stockings 
continued  to  be  his  favorite. 

Both  the  other  roosters  were  dark  in 
color,  but  the  white  one,  by  virtue  of  being 
the  oldest  inhabitant  of  the  barnyard,  con- 
sidered himself  the  most  important.  He 
never  allowed  the  other  roosters  to  crow 
during  all  their  residence  with  him. 

He  was  selfish,  too.  When  Freddie  threw 
the  corn  to  "  his  chickens,"  as  he  always 
called  them,  old  Woolly  Stockings  would 
spread  out  his  big  feet,  with  their  covering 
of  feathers,  and  hide  as  much  of  the  corn 
as  possible.  The  other  roosters  would  try 
to  pick  the  kernels  out  from  under  his  feet, 
but  he  would  scold  them  and  try  to  drive 
them  away,  until  he  had  eaten  as  much  as 
he  wanted. 

"  I  'm  dreadfully  afraid  Woolly  Stockings 


66  OLD    WOOLLY  STOCKINGS. 

is  growing  up  to  be  a  greedy,  naughty 
rooster,"  Freddie  said  to  mamma  one  day. 
"  How  can  I  teach  him  to  be  nice  and  gen- 
erous ?  " 

But  mamma  had  n't  the  least  idea  how 
to  teach  roosters  good  manners,  although 
she  taught  one  little  boy  with  the  best  of 
success. 

Fred  alternately  coaxed  and  scolded  at 
Woolly  Stockings  every  time  he  fed  him  ; 
but,  as  far  as  he  could  discover,  without 
making  the  slightest  improvement  in  his 
behavior. 

But  Woolly  Stockings  was  not  wholly 
bad,  as  was  proved  one  day  in  the  early 
spring. 

Papa  gave  Fred  a  great  surprise  one 
morning  by  offering  to  let  him  have  six  hens 
in  exchange  for  the  two  dark  roosters.  Of 
course  he  knew  better  than  to  offer  to  make 
any  exchange  for  Woolly  Stockings,  in 
spite  of  the  hitter's  bad  manners. 


OLD    WOOLLY  STOCKINGS.  C7 

Fred  was  delighted  at  the  offer,  and 
agreed  to  the  exchange  at  once.  So  papa 
took  the  two  roosters  away  with  him,  and 
at  supper-time  he  came  home,  bringing  the 
six  hens.  If  Woolly  Stockings  had  been 
lonely  during  the  day,  he  was  too  indepen- 
dent to  show  it. 

Papa  took  the  box  out  into  the  back 
yard,  and  pulling  off  the  slats,  let  the  hens 
out. 

Woolly  Stockings  stood  for  a  moment  and 
looked  at  them.  He  put  his  head  on  one 
side  and  walked  about,  evidently  admiring 
the  new  arrivals. 

Then  how  he  did  strut  around,  flap  his 
wings  and  crow,  as  though  challenging  the 
admiration  of  the  hens. 

Pretty  soon  two  of  the  hens  started  to 
run  out  of  the  yard.  Woolly  Stockings 
gravely  placed  himself  in  front  of  them  and 
drove  them  back,  and  all  with  an  air  of  gal- 
lantry which  was  delightfully  funny  to  see. 


68  OLD    WOOLLY   STOCKINGS. 

After  that  there  was  no  more  trouble 
about  Woolly  Stockings'  manners.  He 
grew  up  to  be  as  kind  and  polite  as  even 
Freddie  could  wish. 

"  Mamma,"  Freddie  said  one  morning, 
after  feeding  the  chickens,  "  Woolly  Stock- 
ings does  n't  step  on  the  corn  any  more. 
When  he  sees  me  coming  with  it,  he  calls 
the  hens  to  come  and  share  it  with  him. 
I  am  so  glad  he  has  learned  good  manners, 
for  now  lie  is  just  the  nicest  rooster  in  this 
town." 


THE     RESCUE     OF     MOTHER 
HEN'S    FAMILY. 


"/~\H,  dear!    Oh,  dear  !  "  exclaimed  Rod- 
^-^   ney,  as   he  stood  in  the  doorway  of 
the    great    barn    watching    the    drenching 
downpour  of  rain  outside. 

"What's  the  matter,  Rodney?"  asked 
papa,  who  was  sitting  upon  an  overturned 
keg. 

"  Well/'  answered  Rodney,  "  I  wish 
mamma  was  out  here,  or  that  we  were  in 
there." 

Papa  laughed  a  little.  "That  isn't  a 
bad  wish,"  he  said;  "but  we  should  be 
glad  wa  got  this  far  before  the  deluge 
came." 

"  Yes,  I  am,"  Rodney  replied,  looking 
out  again  to  see  what  he  had  escaped. 


70      RESCUE  OF  MOTHER  HEN'S  FAMILY. 

He  and  papa  had  been  out  in  the  field 
together  when  they  noticed  a  great  bank 
of  green,  angry-looking  clouds  in  the  west, 
and  heard  distant  thunder,  and  saw  forks 
of  bright  lightning  chasing  each  other 
rapidly  across  the  sky. 

"  We  must  hurry  home  as  fast  as  we 
can,  Rodney,"  papa  had  said ;  and  he 
called  to  Alfred,  the  hired  man,  who  was 
working  near  by. 

So  they  all  jumped  into  the  wagon  and 
then — my!  how  fast  papa  did  drive  the 
horses  home!  But  it  was  none  too  fast 
after  all,  for  just  as  they  drove  inside  the 
door  of  the  big  barn,  down  came  the  rain, 
as  though  the  whole  ocean  might  have 
been  let  loose  up  above  them. 

Mamma  had  been  watching  for  them 
from  the  house,  and  she  waved  her  hand 
to  Rodney  as  the  horses  went  dashing  past 
the  door,  feeling  very  glad  indeed  that 
they  were  back  in  time.     But  the  down- 


RESCUE  OF  MOTHER  HEN'S  FAMILY.      71 

pour  had  come  so  soon  after,  that  she 
could  not  get  to  the  barn  any  better  than 
Rodney  could  get  to  the  house. 

Pretty  soon  the  water  began  to  run 
along  all  the  little  slopes,  like  small  rivers, 
and  to  stand  in  deep  pools  in  the  yard. 

"  Oh,  dear  !  "  Rodney  began  again,  won- 
dering how  he  was  ever  to  get  to  mamma, 
when  he  heard  a  queer  noise,  and  stopped 
to  listen.  Papa  and  Alfred  had  gone  up- 
stairs in  the  barn  to  do  some  work,  so  they 
did  not  hear  the  queer  noise  down  below. 

"  Oh,"  said  Rodney  to  himself,  "  the 
water's  running  into  the  basement.  It 
sounds  just  like  a  river.     Papa  !  Papa  !  " 

Papa  did  not  hear  at  first,  but  when  he 
did  he  came  downstairs,  and  then  he  hur- 
ried to  the  top  of  the  steps  which  led  to 
the  basement  of  the  barn. 

"My  !  my  !  "  he  exclaimed,  as  he  looked 
down.  "  The  basement  is  filling  with  water." 

Alfred  hurried  part  way  down  the  stairs 


72      BESCITE  OF  MOTHER  HEN'S  FAMILY. 

after  him,  and  Rodney  perched  on  the  top 
step  and  peered  down  as  best  he  could. 

"  There  's  nothing  we  can  do,"  papa  said 
at  length,  "until  the  water  stops  running." 

So  they  all  came  up  again,  and  papa  and 
Alfred  went  on  upstairs  to  their  work. 

After  awhile  Rodney  grew  tired  of 
watching  the  puddles  in  the  yard  and  the 
great  splashes  of  water  that  fell  into  them, 
and  he  thought  he  woidd  look  down  into 
the  basement  again  and  see  how  deep  the 
water  was  now. 

He  went  part  way  down  the  stairs,  and 
then  he  sat  upon  one  of  the  steps  to  watch 
it.  After  a  few  minutes  his  eyes  became 
used  to  the  darker  room,  and  presently  he 
thought  he  heard  a  noise  down  there  that 
was  different  from  the  sound  of  the  water. 
He  strained  his  eyes  to  look  all  about,  and 
then  suddenly  he  cried  out  : 

u  Why,  Mother  Hen,  are  you  down 
here  ?  " 


BESCUE  OF  MOTHER   HEN'S  FAMILY.      73 

For  there,  perched  upon  a  round  of  a 
ladder  which  leaned  against  the  opposite 
wall,  and  just  above  the  water,  was  Rod- 
ney's own  Mother  Hen,  drawn  up  into  a 
strange-looking  bunch,  and  clucking  with 
all  her  might. 

Rodney  strained  his  eyes  again  ;  for, 
surely,  where  Mother  Hen  was,  there  her 
chickens  could  always  be  found,  too.  And 
then  Rodney  discovered,  floating  about  in 
the  water  in  a  helpless  fashion,  three  yel- 
low balls. 

"  Oh,  papa,"  he  exclaimed,  breathlessly, 
a  moment  later,  "  do  come  down  quick  ! 
Mother  Hen  is  in  the  basement,  and  her 
little  chicks  are  all  drowned." 

Papa  and  Alfred  ran  down  quickly,  and, 
seeing  that  Rodney  had  not  been  mistaken, 
they  quickly  pulled  off  their  shoes  and 
stockings,  rolled  up  their  trousers'  legs, 
and  waded  into  the  water.  They  fished 
out    the    three    poor    little    chickens    and 


74      RESCUE   OF  MOTHER   HEN'S   FAMILY. 

handed  them  to  Rodney,  who  was  delighted 
to  find  that  they  were  not  dead  after  all. 

"  But  there  are  two  more,  papa/'  he 
said.  "  You  know  Mother  Hen  had  five 
chickens." 

So  papa  and  Alfred  hunted  for  the  other 
chickens,  but  they  could  not  find  them 
anywhere. 

"  It  is  no  use,"  papa  said  at  last.  "  The 
others  must  have  drowned." 

Then,  thinking  it  was  time  that  Mother 
Hen  was  rescued,  he  waded  over  to  where 
she  was,  and  there  suddenly  stopped. 

"Why,  Rodney!"  he  exclaimed.  Then 
he  picked  up  Mother  Hen  carefully,  and 
carrying  her  over  to  where  Rodney  was, 
held  her  up  before  him,  and  what  do  you 
think  Rodney  saw  ?  Why,  sticking  out 
from  under  each  of  Mother  Hen's  wings 
was  a  little  yellow  head,  and  there,  safe 
and  dry,  were  the  two  missing  chickens  ! 


A    RESTAURANT    FOR    BIRDS. 


"HT    INTEND  driving    out    to  see   Uncle 

-*-  Otto  to-day/'  said  Mr.  Marcy,  at 
the  breakfast-table.  "  Who  would  like  to 
take  a  sleigh-ride  with  me  ? "  and  he 
looked  straight  into  Kitty's  eyes. 

"  Oh,  I  would  like  to,  papa,"  said  Kitty, 
quickly.     "May  I?" 

"  If  mamma  thinks  best,"  Mr.  Marcy 
answered ;  and  as  mamma  was  willing, 
Kitty  was  soon  putting  on  warm  wraps 
and  preparing  for  her  five-mile  drive. 

Uncle  Otto  lived  upon  the  State  experi- 
mental farm,  where  he  studied  the  birds 
and  insects,  and  then  told  the  farmers 
about  them,  and  how  to  get  rid  of  those 
that  destroyed  the  crops ;  and  a  visit  to 
him  was  always  full  of  interest  to  Kitty. 

75 


76  A   RESTAURANT  FOR  BIRDS. 

Indeed,  she  thought  there  never  could  be 
another  uncle  quite  so  nice  as  Uncle  Otto. 

Kitty  lived  in  Minnesota,  where  they 
sometimes  have  a  great  deal  of  snow  in 
the  winter,  and  this  year  there  had  been 
an  unusual  amount.  The  sleighing  was 
fine,  and  the  country  seemed  so  clean  and 
pretty  that  Kitty  could  not  help  exclaim- 
ing as  they  sped  along,  for  in  the  city  the 
snow  was  dirty,  and  here  everything  was 
white,  as  snow  ought  to  be. 

The  drifts  were  piled  high  on  each  side 
of  the  somewhat  narrow  road,  and  when 
they  met  a  team,  papa  had .  to  turn  out 
very  carefully  in  order  to  avoid  upsetting 
the  sleigh.  *  But  Kitty  thought  it  all  great 
fun,  and  helped  lean  over  when  necessary, 
in  order  to  keep  the  sleigh  balanced. 

"  I  wonder  what  Uncle  Otto  will  have 
new  to  show  me  this  time,"  said  Kitty,  as 
they  caught  the  first  sight  of  the  large 
buildings  which  told   her  that  they  were 


A   RESTAURANT  FOR  BIRDS.  77 

nearly  at  the  end  of  their  ride.  "  He 
always  has  something  different  from  what 
anybody  else  would  have/'  she  added, 
"  and  I  learn  something  every  time  I  come 
out  here." 

"I  wonder,  too,"  answered  papa.  And 
then  he  drove  up  to  the  house,  and  Uncle 
Otto  himself  came  out  and  helped  Kitty  to 
unwrap  the  big  fur  robe  which  tucked  her 
in  so  comfortably,  and  pretty  soon  they 
were  all  sitting  beside  the  fire  and  talking 
as  if  it  had  been  a  year  instead  of  two 
months  since  they  had  seen  each  other. 

Immediately  after  lunch  Uncle  Otto  turned 
to  Kitty  and  said,  "I  am  going  out  now  to 
see  to  my  birds'  restaurant.  Would  you 
like  to  s;o  with  me?" 

"  Indeed  I  would  !  "  said  Kitty,  looking 
puzzled.     But  she  ran  to  get  her  wraps. 

When  they  started,  Uncle  Otto  took  with 
him  a  large  covered  basket,  and  he  went 
out  toward    the    great  grove  of   oak-trees 


78  A   RESTAURANT  FOR  BIRDS. 

which  extended  for  miles  back  of  his 
house. 

Presently  he  stopped  beneath  a  tree  and 
showed  Kitty  a  coil  of  loose  wire  hanging 
from  a  branch.  Then  he  opened  his  basket 
and  took  out  something  white  and  round 
like  a  ball. 

"What  is  that,  Uncle  Otto?"  asked  Kitty. 

"  That  is  mutton  suet,"  he  answered. 
Then  he  uncoiled  the  wire,  placed  the  suet 
on  the  branch,  and  bound  it  securely  with 
the  wire. 

"Now,"  he  added,  turning  to  Kitty, 
"one  table  is  spread  ready  for  dinner." 

"Oh,"  said  Kitty,  suddenly,  "you  do  it 
for  the  birds  ?" 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  Uncle  Otto  returned. 
"  You  see  there  are  lots  of  cold-weather 
birds  who  do  not  leave  us  through  the  long 
winter,  and  when  the  snow  gets  very  deep 
they  have  a  hard  time  to  find  enough  to 
eat ;  then  besides,  when  it  is  very  cold  in- 


WHAT    A    CHATTERING!"    EXCLAIMED    KITTY. 


A  RESTAURANT  FOR  BIRDS.  79 

deed,  as  it  has  been  lately,  they  need  some 
kind  of  food  which  will  produce  heat  in 
their  little  bodies,  and  the  mutton  suet 
does  just  that.  So  when  I  began  to  think 
how  deep  the  snow  was  and  how  long  it 
had  been  cold,  I  thought  I  had  better  open 
a  restaurant  for  the  birds,  or  some  of  them 
might  die ;  and  this  is  the  way  I  did  it." 

Kitty  looked  interested,  so  Uncle  Otto 
went  on.  "  I  fasten  the  suet  in  place  with 
wire,  because  if  I  tied  it  on  with  string 
the  birds  would  peck  at  the  string,  and 
their  dinner  would  drop  to  the  ground  and 
probably  be  eaten  by  a  dog  or  cat.  I  tie 
it  high  on  the  tree  for  the  same  reason,  so 
that  only  the  birds  shall  have  it." 

Uncle  Otto  had  been  tying  many  pieces 
of  suet  in  place  while  he  talked,  and  now 
that  the  last  one  was  secured  they  turned 
back  to  the  house. 

"What  a  chattering  !  "  exclaimed  Kitty, 
stopping  suddenly  and  looking  back. 


80  A   RESTAURANT  FOR  BIRDS. 

"  Yes/'  said  Uncle  Otto,  "  the  birds  are 
very  sociable  at  dinner,  and  sometimes,  I 
am  sorry  to  say,  they  do  not  display  the 
best  of  manners  or  disposition,  but  I  al- 
ways try  to  think  it  is  the  fault  of  their 
training,  and  so  do  not  blame  them  so 
much.  At  any  rate,  I  would  not  want 
even  the  naughty  ones  to  go  hungry." 

"  But  how  do  they  know  so  soon  that 
their  dinner  is  ready  ?  "  asked  Kitty. 

"I  have  come  to  believe,"  said  Uncle 
Otto,  "that  some  of  them  watch  for  me, 
and  when  they  see  me  they  call  out  to  the 
others  that  dinner  is  ready,  for  only  a  few 
days  after  I  began  putting  the  suet  out  for 
them,  I  noticed  the  noise,  and  that  they  all 
gathered  very  quickly  after  I  went  away. 
So  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  they 
look  for  me,  and  know  that  I  am  manager 
of  their  restaurant." 

Kitty  laughed  heartily.  "  What  a  funny 
idea!'*  she  said.     "I  believe  I'll  start  a 


A   RESTAURANT  FOR  BIRDS.  81 

restaurant  on  a  small  scale  at  home.  I 
like  to  see  the  birds  around,  and  it  would 
be  such  fun  to  watch  them.  But  do  you 
know/'  she  added,  "  I  never  thought  be- 
fore about  the  deep  snow  making  it  hard 
for  them  to  find  enough  to  eat.  If  I  can- 
not have  a  restaurant,  I  will  at  least  start 
a  lunch  counter." 


A  SAUCY  BAND  OF  ROBBERS. 


FRANKIE  sat  by  the  tightly-closed 
window  of  the  hotel,  watching,  with  a 
very  small  degree  of  interest,  the  horses 
and  the  people  who  passed,  and  wishing 
with  all  his  might  that  he  had  not  sprained 
his  ankle  on  the  slippery  sidewalk  two  days 
before. 

His  foot  did  n't  hivrt  so  dreadfully,  now 
that  the  doctor  had  fixed  it,  but  he  could 
not  even  step  on  it,  and  so  he  had  to  sit  in 
a  chair  all  clay,  and  he  was  getting  pretty 
tired  of  that. 

Mamma  had  read  stories  to  him,  and 
they  had  played  checkers  and  dominoes 
and  looked  at  pictures,  and  then  he  had 
watched  the  strange  procession  of  black 
horses,  gray  horses,  and  brown  horses,  with 

82 


A    SAUCY  BAND   OF  BOBBERS.  83 

occasionally  a  little  long-eared  donkey, 
driven  by  people  dressed  in  all  kinds  of 
coats,  caps,  and  hats.  But  at  last  he  had 
grown  tired  of  that,  too. 

"  Mamma,  they  all  look  alike  now,"  he 
exclaimed  ;  "  and  there  is  n't  another  thing 
to  look  at !  " 

"  I  wonder  if  that  is  right,"  said  mam- 
ma, and  she  looked  earnestly  out  of  the 
window  for  a  moment.  Then  she  laughed 
softly. 

"  Frank,"  she  said,  "  I  have  discovered  a 
band  of  robbers  right  across  the  street  from 
the  hotel.  You  watch  the  fruit-stand  over 
there  and  see  if  you  can  find  them,  too." 

Frank  was  interested  now.  What  boy 
would  n't  be  when  he  was  given  the  task 
of  discovering  a  bold  band  of  robbers,  es- 
pecially from  so  safe  a  place  as  a  hotel 
window  ?  So  he  began  to  watch  the  fruit- 
stand  opposite  very  intently. 

The  proprietor  of  the  stand,  a  moment 


84  A    SAUCY  BAND   OF  BOBBERS. 

after  he  began  watching,  laid  two  cracked 
nuts  on  top  of  the  pile  of  nuts  which  was 
temptingly  displayed  on  a  shelf  or  tray  out- 
side the  door. 

"  I  suppose  he  thinks  people  will  see  by 
those  how  nice  and  fresh  his  nuts  are,  and 
will  buy  them,"  Frank  said,  as  the  pro- 
prietor went  in  and  shut  the  door. 

"Yes,"  said  mamma,  " that  is  the  way 
he  advertises  them." 

"  Oh-h  !  "  exclaimed  Frank,  almost  before 
mamma  had  finished  speaking,  for,  as  soon 
as  the  door  of  the  shop  had  closed,  a  fat 
little  sparrow  new  down,  lighted  on  the 
pile  of  nuts,  and  driving  his  bill  firmly  into 
the  meat  of  a  nut  that  was  cracked,  flew 
away  with  it  to  the  low  roof  of  the  fruit- 
stand.  In  a  moment  another  sparrow 
pounced  down  upon  the  second  nut,  and 
carried  that  off  to  the  roof.  Then  they 
chattered  and  hopped  about  and  pecked 
away  at  the  nut  kernels,  and  seemed  just 


A   SAUCY  BAND   OF  BOBBERS.  85 

as  happy  over  them  as  though  they  had  not 
been  stolen. 

Pretty  soon  the  proprietor  came  to  the 
door  again,  and  he  seemed  to  discover  that 
his  nicely  cracked  nuts  were  gone,  for  he 
looked  at  the  pile,  and  then  looked  up  and 
down  the  street. 

"  He  thinks  some  boys  have  come  along 
and  taken  them,"  said  Frank,  with  a 
laugh. 

Mamma  laughed,  too.  "  I  'm  afraid  he 
will  not  catch  them  this  time,"  she  said. 

Pretty  soon  he  came  out  again  with  more 
nuts  nicely  cracked,  and  placed  those,  as 
he  had  the  others,  on  the  top  of  the  pile. 

The  sparrows  must  have  been  watching, 
for  as  soon  as  he  was  safely  within  the 
door,  down  they  flew  again,  one  after 
another,  until  every  piece  of  the  cracked 
nuts  had   been  carried  off. 

At  least  five  birds  had  taken  part  in  this 
theft,  and  they  danced  and  chattered  harder 


86  A    SAUCY  BAND   OF  ROBBERS. 

than  ever  on  the  roof  of  the  little  fruit- 
stand  as  they  pecked  and  pecked  at  the 
delicious  nut  meats. 

In  a  moment  the  owner  of  the  nuts  came 
out  of  the  door  again.  His  nice  samples 
were  gone,  and  not  a  boy  in  sight ! 

He  seemed  very  much  puzzled,  and  took 
off  his  cap  and  rubbed  his  head  thought- 
fully.    And  just  then  something  happened. 

I  don't  know  whether  one  of  the  spar- 
rows was  particularly  careless  or  particu- 
larly roguish,  but  at  any  rate  he  dropped 
his  empty  nut-shell  straight  down  upon  the 
man's  bare  head. 

The  man  looked  down  to  see  what  had 
hit  him,  and  then  he  looked  up  to  see 
where  it  had  come  from,  and  then — well, 
then  he  put  his  hands  on  his  two  fat  sides 
and  laughed. 

Frank  laughed,  too,  you  may  imagine, 
and  so  did  mamma,  and  then  Frank 
watched  to  see  what  would  happen  next. 


A    SAUCY  BAND   OF  ROBBERS.  87 

But  evidently  the  man  did  not  think  his 
method  of  advertising  had  proved  a  success, 
for  he  brought  out  no  more  nuts,  and  at 
last  the  sparrows  flew  away  to  look  up 
some  new  piece  of  mischief. 


A   RACE. 


in  RED  was  almost  asleep.  He  had 
been  travelling  on  the  cars  for  nearly 
two  clays,  and  all  of  this  second  day  they 
had  been  crossing  the  plains  of  Montana, 
where  there  had  been  very  little  to  interest 
a  boy  of  ten  outside  the  car  windows. 

But  just  as  his  head  was  beginning  to 
droop  in  a  sleepy  nod,  Cousin  Arthur  took 
hold  of  his  arm,  and  said  :  "  Do  you  see 
that  pony  standing  beside  the  car  ?  That 
is  a  real  cowboy's  pony." 

Fred  was  awake  in  a  moment,  and  he 
looked  out  of  the  window  eagerly. 

The  train  had  stopped  at  a  station,  but 
there  were  no  buildings  to  be  seen,  except 
the  depot  and  one  other  small  frame  house. 

The   pony  was  standing  quite  near  the 

88 


A   BACE.  89 

car,  his  head  stretched  out  and  the  reins 
hanging  down  toward  the  ground. 

"  When  the  cowboy  throws  the  reins 
over  the  pony's  head,"  said  Cousin  Arthur, 
"  the  pony  knows  that  he  is  to  stand  still, 
just  as  our  horses  stand  still  when  they 
are  tied." 

"Why  don't  the  cowboys  tie  their 
ponies  ?  "   asked   Fred,  curiously. 

"  What  would  they  tie  them  to  ?  "  asked 
Cousin  Arthur  ;  and  then  Fred  laughed  at 
his  own  question,  for  as  far  as  you  could 
see  in  any  direction  there  was  not  a  bush 
nor  a  post  in  sight,  to  say  nothing  of  a  tree 
or  a  fence. 

"  The  ponies  understand,"  said  Cousin 
Arthur,  "  and  one  that  has  been  trained 
will  not  move  when  he  is  left  that  way." 

Just  then  the  whistle  blew  for  the  train  to 
start,  and  as  it  whistled  a  cowboy,  the  owner 
of  the  pony,  dashed  out  of  the  little  frame 
building  and  jumped  on  the  pony's  back. 


90  A   RACE. 

He  wore  a  broad  felt  hat,  a  bright  red 
shirt,  a  bandana  handkerchief  tied  loosely 
aronnd  his  neck,  and  a  pair  of  leather 
breeches  with  the  hair  left  upon  that  part 
of  the  leather  which  formed  the  front  of 
the  legs.  Around  his  waist  was  a  cart- 
ridge belt,  with  two  big  "  six-shooters " 
fastened  to  it.  Fred  watched  him  with 
wide-open  eyes. 

When  he  jumped  so  suddenly  into  the 
saddle  the  pony  placed  its  four  feet  close 
together  and  began  to  "buck."  The  mo- 
tion that  it  made  was  like  that  of  a  rock- 
ing-horse, only  it  was  not  nearly  so  smooth. 
First  its  fore  feet  struck  the  ground  to- 
gether, then  its  back  feet,  and  as  they 
went  as  fast  as  he  could  make  them  go 
right  in  the  same  spot,  and  as  he  kept  his 
head  and  tail  down  as  close  to  his  feet  as 
possible,  it  took  a  very  good  rider  to  keep 
in  the  saddle. 

Fred   laughed   heartily    at    the    comical 


A  RACE.  91 

sight,  and  at  the  same  time  wondered  how 
the  cowboy  could  stay  on.     But  he  did. 

Presently  the  man  struck  his  spurs  into 
the  pony's  sides,  and  with  one  great  plunge 
he  started  off.  The  train  had  started,  too, 
and  for  a  mile  the  cowboy  and  his  pony 
kept  up  with  the  train. 

Fred  grew  more  and  more  excited  as  the 
race  kept  up,  and  when  at  last  the  cowboy 
drew  rein  and  the  plucky  little  pony 
dropped  behind,  Fred  got  up  and  waved 
his  cap.  Then  he  dropped  back  into  his 
seat,  but  you  may  be  sure  he  was  not 
sleepy  for  some  time  after  that. 


A   WINTER   WALK, 


"  /^  OME,  Charlie,"  called  Uncle  Lewis  one 
^~J   winter  morning,  "  let  us  take  a  walk 
through  the  woods." 

"All  right,"  Charlie  responded.  He 
could  not  understand  why  Uncle  Lewis 
should  want  to  go  into  the  woods  in 
winter,  but  he  and  Uncle  Lewis  were  the 
best  of  friends,  so  he  was  soon  ready  to  go 
with  him. 

There  had  been  a  fresh  fall  of  snow  a 
few  days  before,  and  as  they  started  out 
Charlie  could  not  help  noticing  how  clean 
and  white  everything  looked. 

"  The  snow  is  beautiful  in  the  woods," 
said  Uncle  Lewis  as  he  strode  along. 
"  Just  see  how  the  dark  trunks  of  the 
trees  stand  out  against  it," 

92 


A    WINTER    WALK.  93 

The  chickadees  were  flitting  about  and 
calling  gayly  to  one  another. 

"  I  am  so  glad  the  chickadees  stay 
through  the  winter  !  "  said  Charlie.  "  They 
are  not  fine  singers,  but  they  don't  desert 
us  as  soon  as  it  grows  cold,  like  most  of 
the  birds  do." 

"  I  like  the  chickadees,  too,"  said  Uncle 
Lewis.  "  It  is  always  easy  to  find  warm- 
weather  friends." 

Presently  Uncle  Lewis  laid  his  hand  on 
Charlie's  arm  and  said,  "Hark ! "  very  softly. 

From  just  over  their  heads  came  two 
soft,  liquid  notes  that  were  sweet  and 
musical.  Charlie  looked  up.  There  was 
no  bird  in  sight  but  a  blue-jay.  Charlie 
was  about  to  turn  away,  when  he  saw  the 
bird's  throat  swell  and  the  bill  open,  and 
then  again  came  the  two  soft,  sweet  notes. 
He  looked  at  Uncle  Lewis  in  surprise. 

"  Why,  I  thought  the  blue-jay  could  only 
scream  and  scold  !  "  he  said. 


94  A    WINTER    WALK. 

"  We  have  caught  him  unawares/'  replied 
Uncle  Lewis.  "  It  is  true  that  his  reputa- 
tion as  a  singer  and  as  a  neighbor  is  none 
of  the  best,  but  he  really  has  a  better  side 
to  his  nature  which  he  is  usually  careful  to 
conceal  from  men." 

"  I  shall  always  like  the  blue-jay  better 
after  this,"  said  Charlie.  "  What  a  pity  it 
is  that  he  cannot  always  show  this  side  of 
his  nature !  " 

They  walked  on  a  little  farther,  when 
they  were  suddenly  startled  by  a  whirr  of 
gray  wings,  and  a  partridge  flew  across  their 
path  and  disappeared  among  the  trees  ahead. 

"  Here  are  some  interesting  footprints," 
said  Uncle  Lewis,  stepping  out  into  the 
deep  snow.     u  Let  us  look  at  them." 

Charlie  stopped.  "  What  funny  tracks  !  " 
he  exclaimed. 

"Yes,"  said  Uncle  Lewis,  "those  are 
rabbit  tracks.  You  can  just  imagine  one 
bounding  along  as  you  look  at  the  prints 


A    WINTER    WALK.  95 

in  the  snow.  And  here,"  he  added,  "  are 
the  tiny  footprints  of  a  field-mouse.  What 
dainty  little  marks  it  has  made  I " 

"  See,"  said  Charlie,  following  the  small 
trail,  "  a  bird  has  hopped  across  the  field- 
mouse's  track.  You  can  tell  that  it  hopped 
because  the  tracks  are  side  by  side." 

A  few  steps  farther  on  there  was  another 
queer  trail.  "What  is  this?"  Charlie 
asked,  pointing  to  the  marks. 

Uncle  Lewis  looked  carefully.  "  I  do 
not  know  what  animal  made  those,"  he 
said,  "but  it  was  evidently  an  animal  with 
a  long  tail,  for  do  you  see  the  continuous, 
wavering  line  between  the  footprints  ?" 

Charlie  fairly  clapped  his  hands.  "  Yes, 
I  see,"  he  said.  "  Oh,  Uncle  Lewis,  I  wish 
I  could  see  the  animals  that  made  these 
tracks  all  out  on  the  snow  together.  It 
would  be  like  a  comical  fairy  story." 

Uncle  Lewis  laughed.  "  It  really  would 
be  fun,"  he  replied. 


96  A    WINTER    WALK. 

"Let  us  go  and  look  over  that  bank," 
he  said,  when  they  had  gone  on  a  little 
farther. 

Just  as  they  reached  the  edge  of  the 
bank  there  was  a  sudden,  startled  rush  of 
something  small  and  gray,  which  disap- 
peared under  the  edge  of  the  bank  at  their 
feet.  They  both  stooped  down  and  looked 
closer.  It  was  a  tiny  animal,  probably  a 
field-mouse,  judging  by  the  track  it  had 
left  in  the  snow. 

"  Why,"  said  Charlie,  looking  intently, 
"  it  certainly  went  under  this  bank,  but  its 
tracks  only  go  part  way  up." 

"  That  is  so,"  said  Uncle  Lewis,  getting 
down  to  peer  over,  "  for  here  is  the  hole  it 
went  into." 

Charlie  looked  puzzled. 

"I  think  I  understand,"  Uncle  Lewis 
went  on.  "  The  little  field-mouse  has 
many  enemies  in  the  wood  which  are  big- 
ger than  himself,  but  perhaps  not  half  so 


IT    DISAPPEARED    UNDER    THE    EDGE    OF   THE    BANK. 


A    WINTER    WALK.  97 

smart.  You  see,  the  mouse  runs  along  in 
the  snow  until  it  is  about  a  foot  from  its 
hole  and  then  it  leaps  in,  leaving  the  tracks 
cut  off  far  enough  away  to  puzzle  and  mis- 
lead its  enemies.  This  is  undoubtedly  the 
tiny  creature's  means  of  safety  and  defence. 
Perhaps  he  has  a  wife  and  children  under 
the  bank  to  care  for,  and  his  winter  stores 
are  undoubtedly  laid  away  there.  How 
wonderfully  God  has  taught  each  of  his 
creatures  how  to  defend  and  care  for  itself 
and  little  ones  !  " 

Charlie  knelt  down  on  the  edge  of  the 
bank  and  peeped  into  the  little  hole.  "  We 
know  your  secret,  little  mouse,"  he  ex- 
claimed softly,  "  but  we  won't  hurt  you, 
you  wise  little  fellow." 

"  It  is  time  to  go  back  now,"  said  Uncle 
Lewis,  looking  at  his  watch. 

"  All  right,"  answered  Charlie,  scram- 
bling to  his  feet.  "But,  Uncle  Lewis,"  he 
went  on,  as  he  ran  along  by  his  side,  "  I 


98  A    WINTER   WALK. 

knew  there  were  flowers  and  lots  of  nice 
things  to  see  in  the  woods  in  summer,  but 
I  never  knew  that  there  was  anything  to 
see  in  winter  before." 

Uncle  Lewis  smiled.  "  There  are  lots  of 
people  who  have  not  found  that  out  yet," 
he  said. 


THE   DOG  THAT   TELE- 
GRAPHED. 


HATTIE  and  her  mamma  were  on 
their  way  to  visit  grandma,  who 
lived  over  one  hundred  miles  from  their 
home.  They  had  taken  a  train  early  in 
the  evening,  and  would  have  reached 
grandma's  long  before  bedtime  if  it  had 
not  been  for  one  thing  —  they  had  to 
change  cars  at  a  little  station  in  the  coun- 
try and  wait  a  whole  hour  before  their 
train  came. 

Before  the  hour  was  over  Hattie  grew 
very  tired  and  sleepy.  She  had  tried  each 
bench  in  the  station,  but  had  found  them 
equally  hard ;  she  had  unpacked  and  packed 
over  again  the  little  valise  which  papa  had 
given  her  for  her  very  own  just  the  day  be- 

99 


100         THE  BOG   THAT  TELEGRAPHED. 

fore  they  started  ;  and  she  had  looked 
through  the  little  window  into  the  office, 
where  a  young  man  sat  making  a  funny, 
ticking  noise  on  a  little  instrument. 

"  I  guess  it 's  a  play  piano,"  she  said  to 
mamma  in  a  whisper,  "  but  it  does  n't 
make  any  music,  only  tick,  tick,  tick." 

Mamma  explained  that  it  was  a  tele- 
graph instrument  the  young  man  was 
playing  upon,  and  then  for  some  time 
Hattie  was  interested  in  mamma's  explana- 
tion of  how  a  message  could  be  sent  over 
the  wires  by  means  of  those  little  ticks. 

But  after  a  time  all  this  lost  its  interest, 
too,  and  the  noise  of  the  little  instrument 
grew  fainter  and  fainter  in  her  ears. 

Mamma  discovered  this  and  saw  the  little 
head  begin  to  droop,  so  she  tried  to  interest 
Hattie  once  more  in  the  contents  of  her 
valise. 

I  think  the  young  man  must  have  heard 
mamma  trying  to  keep  Hattie  awake  till 


THE  DOG   THAT  TELEGRAPHED.         101 

the  train  came,  for  pretty  soon  he  came 
out  from  the  office  and  whistled.  Then 
a  little  curly  dog  that  Hattie  had  not  seen 
at  all  before  came  out  of  the  office,  too, 
wagging  his  tail  vigorously. 

Hattie  opened  her  eyes  wide  at  this. 

"Here,  Pompey,"  said  the  young  man, 
"  show  the  little  girl  how  you  can  tele- 
graph." 

Hattie  was  very  wide  awake  by  this 
time  and  sat  up  quite  straight,  and  what 
do  you  suppose  the  little  dog  did  ?  Well, 
he  laid  down  on  his  back  on  the  bare  floor 
and  began  to  beat  upon  the  boards  with  his 
tail,  tap,  tap,  tap-tap-tap,  just  as  the  young 
man  had  been  doing  on  his  telegraph  in- 
strument. 

How  Hattie  did  laugh,  and  mamma, 
too ;  and  then  the  little  dog  jumped  up 
and  wagged  his  tail,  as  much  as  to  say, 
"  Did  n't  I  do  that  pretty  well  ?  " 

After    that    Hattie    found    Pompey    so 


102         THE  BOG    THAT   TELEGRAPHED. 

amusing  that  almost  before  she  knew  it 
the  train  came  puffing  into  the  station,  and 
she  had  to  bid  good  night  to  the  dog  that 
could  telegraph,  and  that  had  kept  her 
from  going  to  sleep  before  she  reached 
grandma's. 


WHAT  GRANDMA   SENT. 


EALPH  ROGERS  was  making  a  col- 
lection of  birds'  nests.  He  had  be- 
come interested  in  watching  the  birds  while 
studying  about  them  in  school,  and  when 
his  vacation  came  he  began  looking  for 
birds  whenever  he  had  an  opportunity. 

He  learned  a  great  deal  about  the  habits 
of  the  different  kinds,  and  how  they  con- 
structed their  nests.  Then  later  in  the 
season,  when  the  baby  birds  had  learned 
to  fly  and  the  nests  were  of  no  more  use 
to  the  bird  families,  he  began  his  collec- 
tion. He  would  cut  down  the  small 
branch  of  the  tree  on  which  the  nest  was 
hung,  or  dig  up  the  bit  of  sod  or  moss  on 
which  it  rested,  and  in  this  way  his  nests 
made  a  fine   showing.     His  collection  was 

103 


104  WHAT  GRANDMA   SENT. 

praised  by  the  older  members  of  the  family 
and  by  his  teachers,  until  Ralph  began  to 
take  a  great  deal  of  pride  in  it. 

At  the  close  of  his  vacation  he  wrote  a 
long  letter  to  his  grandmother,  who  lived 
in  the  country,  but  away  off  in  another 
State,  telling  her  how  he  had  spent  his 
vacation,  and  what  he  had  learned  during 
the  summer  months. 

Of  course,  one  of  the  main  things  that  he 
told  her  about  was  his  collection  of  birds' 
nests.  He  described  how  he  had  thrown 
bits  of  string  out  on  the  lawn,  and  then 
had  watched  the  orioles  come  and  take 
them  and  use  them  to  weave  into  their 
nest  on  the  end  of  one  of  the  elm-tree 
boughs.  Then  after  the  orioles  had  left 
the  nest  he  had  cut  it  down  and  kept  it. 

Grandma  always  enjoyed  Ralph's  let- 
ters, and  she  enjoyed  this  one  especially, 
because  she  knew  at  once  that  she  could 
give  him  a  delightful  surprise. 


WHAT  GRANDMA   SENT.  105 

About  a  week  later,  Ralph,  received  a 
letter  from  grandma,  and  in  the  same  mail 
was  a  strong,  square  pasteboard  box  di- 
rected to  him. 

Ralph  opened  the  letter  and  this  is  what 
it  said : 

"  Deae  Ralph  :  I  was  very  glad  to  re- 
ceive your  letter,  and  very  much  interested 
in  your  collection  of  birds'  nests.  And 
now  I  have  a  story  to  tell  you  about  a 
bird's  nest.  One  day  in  the  early  summer 
grandpa  was  out  on  the  side  porch  having 
his  hair  cut."  (Ralph  remembered  what 
beautiful  silvery- white  hair  grandpa  had.) 
"  Of  course  the  wind  blew  the  bunches  of 
hair  out  into  the  grass,  and  a  little  while 
afterwards  we  noticed  that  a  pair  of  small 
birds  were  making  frequent  trips  from  a 
tree  near-by  to  the  grass  beside  the  porch. 
Then  we  saw  that  they  were  carrying 
away  the  bunches  of  hair,  and  we  knew 
that  they  must  be  making  a  nest.     And 


106  WHAT  GRANDMA    SENT. 

sure  enough,  as  we  found  out  afterwards, 
they  were  lining  the  nest  with  the  soft, 
white  hair,  to  make  it  smooth  and  beauti- 
ful for  their  babies.  Now  if  you  will  open 
the  package  which  I  have  mailed  to  you,  I 
think  you  will  find  something  in  it  which 
you  will  like  to  add  to  your  collection  of 
nests.  "  Your  loving 

"  Grandma/' 

Ralph  opened  the  package  pretty  quickly 
after  reading  the  letter,  and  there,  inside 
the  box,  attached  to  a  small  branch  of  a 
tree,  was  a  little  round  nest  beautifully 
made,  and  with  the  inside  completely  cov- 
ered with  soft,  white  hair,  woven  so  that  it 
formed  a  part  of  the  dainty  bird-cradle. 

"  It 's  grandpa's  hair  !  "  exclaimed  Ralph, 
as  he  ran  to  show  his  treasure  to  mamma. 

And  do  you  wonder  that  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  family  considered  that  nest  the 
chief  treasure  of  all  Ralph's  collection  ? 


AN   UNEXPECTED   PARADE. 


A  NNA  had  been  sick  for  two  weeks, 
-£-*-  but  now  she  was  able  to  sit  up  by 
the  window  and  see  the  children  go  by  on 
their  way  to  school,  and  watch  the  chickens 
scratch  industriously  in  Mrs.  Fitkin's  yard. 
There  did  not  seem  to  be  much  else  to  look 
at ;  and  after  a  day  or  two  she  began  to 
tire  of  having  to  sit  so  still. 

But  the  worst  of  all  was  when  her 
brother  Tommy  told  her  that  papa  had 
promised  to  take  him  down  town  the  next 
afternoon  to  see  the  parade,  for  mamma 
had  read  to  her  about  it  from  the  news- 
paper, and  there  were  to  be  soldiers  in  it, 
and  bands  of  music,  and  men  on  horseback 
all  dressed  in  splendid  uniforms,  and,  oh, 
she  did  want  to  see  it  so  much ! 

107 


108  AN   UNEXPECTED  PARADE. 

But  of  course  she  could  n't,  for  the  doctor 
would  not  even  let  her  walk  about  the 
house  yet.     It  did  seem  too  bad. 

"  I  'm  awful  sorry,  Anna,"  said  Tommy, 
as  he  and  papa  started  off  the  next  day, 
"  but  I  '11  tell  you  all  about  it  when  I  get 
back,  just  the  best  I  can.'' 

Papa  kissed  her  good-by,  and  whispered 
a  loving  little  message  in  her  ear,  and  then 
they  were  gone. 

Anna  tried  to  be  very  brave,  because  she 
knew  it  would  grieve  mamma  if  she  was 
unhappy  about  it,  and  of  course  it  could  n't 
be  helped ;  but  at  the  same  time  she  could  n't 
help  wishing  that  she  was  well  and  able  to 
go  too. 

She  did  not  feel  at  all  interested  in  Mrs. 
Fitkin's  hens,  and  there  wasn't  anything 
else  to  watch,  except  a  yellow  dog  that  was 
lying  stupidly  in  the  middle  of  the  road. 

Anna  laid  her  head  against  the  back  of 
the  big   easy  chair    and   closed   her   eyes. 


AN   UNEXPECTED  PARADE.  109 

She  was  thinking  about  Tommy  and  the 
soldiers  and  the  music,  when,  from  out  in 
the  street,  she  heard  a  strange,  shrill  laugh. 

She  sat  up  very  quickly  and  looked  out. 
And  there  was  the  strangest  procession ! 
There  were  three,  four,  five,  six  wagons 
coming  up  the  street,  and  on  each  wagon 
there  were  two  or  three  cages,  although  at  a 
distance  they  looked  simply  like  big  boxes. 

Anna  called  mamma  excitedly,  for  in  one 
of  the  cages  on  the  first  wagon  was  a  gor- 
geous red  and  blue  parrot,  which  was  talk- 
ing and  laughing  by  turns,  and  evidently 
enjoying  the  ride  very  much.  There  were 
several  other  cages  on  this  wagon,  some 
of  which  held  eagles,  and  others  owls, 
and  in  one  was  a  small  monkey,  which  now 
and  then  opened  its  mouth  as  widely  as 
possible,  and  gave  the  funniest  long,  shrill 
squeal. 

Anna  sat  up  and  clapped  her  hands  softly. 
"  Oh,  mamma,"  she  said,  "  how  funny  !  " 


110  AN   UNEXPECTED  PARADE. 

The  other  wagons  held  larger  cages. 
There  were  black  bears  standing  on  their 
hind  legs,  holding  to  the  bars  at  the  sides 
of  their  cages,  and  wolves  walking  back 
and  forth  as  if  they  would  like  to  find 
some  way  of  getting  out  so  that  they  might 
run  off  to  the  woods  again.  There  were 
foxes,  too,  and  in  one  cage  was  a  wildcat. 
It  did  not  look  one  bit  wild,  but  like  an 
immense,  big  house  cat,  with  beautiful  eyes 
and  a  coat  of  silky  hair.  Anna  said  she 
felt  like  hugging  it. 

In  a  big  cage  with  a  tank  in  it,  which 
occupied  an  entire  wagon,  there  were  sea- 
lions,  but  Anna  could  not  see  them  very 
well,  for  they  could  not  climb  or  walk 
about  like  other  animals.  But  one  raised 
its  head,  and  Anna  was  satisfied  with 
that. 

On  the  last  wagon  was  a  large  ape, 
which  must  have  been  teased  by  the  boys 
and  girls,  for  as  soon  as  it  caught  sight  of 


AN   UNEXPECTED  PARADE.  Ill 

Anna  at  the  window  it  began  making  faces 
at  her.    This  was  the  funniest  sight  of  all. 

She  watched  the  ape  until  it  was  out  of 
sight,  and  then  she  turned  to  mamma  and 
asked,  "  Where  do  you  suppose  they  came 
from,  and  was  n't  it  funny  that  they  came 
to-day,  just  when  I  was  wishing  so  much 
to  see  a  parade  ?  " 

Mamma  laughed.  "  Yes,  it  was  funny," 
she  said,  answering  Anna's  last  question 
first,  "  but  I  think  I  know  where  they 
came  from.  They  are  the  animals  that 
have  been  kept  in  the  park  during  the 
summer,  and  now  that  the  weather  is  be- 
coming colder,  they  are  being  moved  to 
winter  quarters.  They  are  to  be  kept  in 
some  large  barns  on  a  stock-farm  outside 
the  city." 

"  Well,"  replied  Anna,  as  she  leaned  back 
in  her  chair,  "  I  am  so  glad  they  went 
past  here;  and  won't  I  have  something  to 
tell  Tommy  when  he  comes  home  ! " 


THE   ROOSTER'S  JOKE. 


rTlHE  old  Plymouth  Rock  rooster  had  to 
-*-  be  tied  to  a  tree,  because  he  was  such 
a  fighter,  and  Myrtle  watched  with  interest 
while  her  auntie  fastened  a  bit  of  strap  about 
his  ankle,  and  then  a  long  line  from  the 
strap  to  the  tree. 

After  that  Myrtle  was  allowed  to  feed 
him  with  corn  and  wheat,  and  keep  his 
drinking-cup  filled  with  fresh  water.  In 
time  she  began  to  feel  somewhat  acquainted 
with  him,  and  she  learned  that  roosters 
have  traits  of  character  quite  as  strongly 
marked  as  those  of  people. 

One  day  he  had  grown  tired  of  walking 
about  his  tree  and  tangling  the  line  into  a 
succession  of  knots,  and  he  evidently  de- 
termined to  play  a  joke  upon  the  hens  that 
112 


THE  ROOSTER'S  JOKE.  113 

were  roaming  about  and  enjoying  the 
freedom  which  he  was  denied,  and  this  is 
the  way  he  did  it,  for  I  am  telling  you  a 
true  story. 

He  began  to  scratch  in  the  ground  very 
earnestly,  and  then,  throwing  up  his  head, 
he  called,  "  Cluck,  cluck,  cluck,  cluck  !  " 
in  rapid  succession.  This  is  rooster 
language  for,  "  Come,  see  what  I  've 
got!" 

The  hens  all  came  running  in  haste,  for 
the  roosters  are  the  knights  of  the  poultry- 
yard,  and  frequently  treat  the  hens  to 
delicious  morsels  of  food  —  grubs  and 
worms  which  they  dig  out  of  the  ground. 

Well,  when  the  hens  had  gathered  ex- 
pectantly around,  that  old  rooster  turned 
his  back  upon  them  —  for  he  hadn  't  a 
thing  for  them  to  eat  —  and  laughed, 
"  H-a-w,  cluck,  cluck,  cluck,  cluck  !  H-a-w, 
cluck,  cluck,  cluck,  cluck !  "  ("  Oh,  was  n't 
that  a  good  joke !     Oh,  wasn't  that  a  good 


114  THE  BOOSTER'S  JOKE. 

joke  !  ")  just    as  plainly  as  Myrtle  herself 
could  have  expressed  it. 

And  the  hens  ?  They  walked  away  with 
a  disgusted  air  and  began  to  scratch  for 
themselves. 


THE   BIRD  THAT  SANG   IN 
THE    NIGHT, 


TjpTHEL  was  only  four  years  old,  so  I 
-r*  am  sure  that  it  cannot  be  thought  so 
very,  very  strange  that  she  should  be  afraid 
when  she  woke  up  in  the  night  and  every- 
thing around  her  was  dark  and  still.  But 
little  Ethel  was  really  much  troubled  about 

it. 

"  I  know  I  ought  not  to  be  afraid,"  she 

would   say  to  mamma,    "  but  I  am  every 

time." 

Mamma    tried    in    many  ways   to  teach 

Ethel    that    there  was  nothing  for  her  to 

feel  frightened  about  in  the  darkness,  but 

Ethel  still  was  afraid. 

One  day  mamma  and  Ethel  started  off 

on  the  railway  train  to  visit  Aunt   Char- 

115 


116       BIRD   THAT  SANG  IN   THE  NIGHT. 

lotte,  who  lived  several  hundred  miles 
away.  They  were  to  be  in  the  cars  two 
clays  and  three  nights,  and  it  is  not  surpris- 
ing that  Ethel  thought  the  journey  would 
be  quite  wonderful. 

There  were  many  things  to  interest  her 
the  first  evening,  and  it  took  her  a  long 
time  to  get  to  sleep. 

"  I  feel  as  though  I  was  packed  away  in 
a  trunk,"  she  said  to  mamma,  when  she 
was  tucked  into  the  berth  in  the  sleeping- 
car.  Mamma  laughed,  and  told  her  she 
would  not  mind  it  in  a  little  while. 

At  last  Ethel  fell  asleep,  and  in  a  short 
time  mamma  went  to  sleep  too. 

Some  time  far  on  in  the  night  Ethel 
woke. 

"Oh,  dear,  why  did  I?"  she  whispered 
to  herself,  and  then  she  felt  a  jolting  which 
gradually  grew  less  until  the  train  stopped 
quite  still. 

Ethel  remembered  where  she  was  as  soon 


BI1W   THAT  SANG  IN  THE  NIGHT.       117 

as  she  woke  up,  and  as  usual  she  began  to 
feel  afraid. 

The  cars  were  very  quiet.  Her  window 
was  up  a  little  way,  and  she  ventured  to 
peep  out.     It  was  perfectly  dark. 

She  was  going  to  reach  for  mamma's 
hand  and  waken  her,  when  she  heard  a 
little  twitter  just  outside  the  car,  and  then 
in  the  stillness  and  darkness  a  bird  began 
to  sing. 

"  Why,"  she  said  to  herself,  in  sudden 
surprise,  "  I  did  n't  know  that  birds  sang  in 
the  night.  I  s'pose  it  woke  up  and  just 
began  to  sing  so  's  to  get  to  sleep  again." 

She  thought  about  it  for  several  minutes, 
and  forgot  to  waken  mamma. 

"The  little  bird  is  n't  afraid,"  she  said  to 
herself,  "  and  it 's  all  alone  in  the  woods. 
I  wonder  if  I  could  sing  myself  to  sleep 
too." 

So  she  began  to  hum  a  song  she  had 
learned,  very  softly,  so  that  she  would  not 


118       BIRD   THAT  SANG  IN   THE  NIGHT. 

waken  the  other  passengers.  And  her  song 
grew  softer  and  softer,  until  it  ended  in  a 
sleepy  little  murmur,  and  ceased  altogether. 
And  Ethel  never  was  afraid  when  she 
wakened  in  the  night  after  that.  She 
always  thought  of  the  little  bird  in  the 
dark  woods,  disturbed  by  the  passing  train, 
and  like  it,  she  sang  herself  to  sleep  again. 


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